Metal Gear Zombie
by Insider2000
Summary: *MASSIVE SPOILERS OF MGS4* The story takes place two years after MGS4. The surviving group makes a horrible discovery and must fight to save the person they find most dear. Rated M due to blood, a character with horrendous language, and sexual themes.
1. Chapter 1: Goodbye

Chapter 1: Goodbye

The alarm echoed the room loudly. A hand slammed on it before it could do any real harm. She rolled back over and into the arms of her lover. Meryl slowly opened her eyes. Johnny was still fast asleep. Without disturbing him, she snuck out of bed and into the bathroom.

She snatched a box hidden in one of the cabinets and slowly pulled out a pregnancy test from the box.

Johnny slowly woke up as he could hear the sound of Meryl taking the test. In doubt, he remained in bed.

Meryl waited a few more seconds and then checked the results. "Negative." Meryl closed her eyes. "Damn it." She heard Johnny roll over. "You awake?"

Johnny slowly turned around. "I don't know what's going on." Meryl sat on the bed. "We checked with several doctors. I'm not sterile. You're completely health. There's no reason we shouldn't be able to have a baby."

Meryl sighed. "Maybe we're just unlucky." Both remained silent. Meryl looked at the clock. "Come on, love. We've got to go."

The two dressed up for a grim occasion. Both in complete back. Johnny glanced at Meryl. "You're wearing a suit? Why?"

Meryl started putting make-up on. "To hide my man arms."

Johnny tilted his head. "You don't have man arms!" Meryl gave Johnny a glance. Johnny rolled his eyes. "Okay, so you do. Who cares? You're the most attractive woman I've met." He hugged her as she continued to put make-up on.

"Johnny". Johnny made a noise as if he were listening. "I'm making myself a promise. I'm not going to cry."

"It's okay to cry."

The two walked out of their apartment and quickly moved to the limo that awaited them. Meryl opened the newspaper. Across it, it read, "Legend, Solid Snake, is Dead." Meryl quickly closed it and threw the paper on the floor of the limo. The driver spoke soon after. "It'll be a while. Are you alright ma'am?"

Meryl nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Be sure to thank my father for sending us this limo."

For the rest of the drive, Meryl and Johnny were resting on each other.

As soon as they both arrived, the stood in front of Campbell's mansion. Both walked in in a swift pace. As soon as they entered, the handful of people they expected to be there were the only people in the house. Campbell, Mei Ling, Sunny, Raiden, Rose, and John. Otacon was nowhere to be found.

As soon as they both walked in, Campbell rushed Meryl for a hug. She accepted it. "Dad." She had been comfortable with calling him father for several months. "I'm not going to cry."

"Then don't, my dear." Campbell let her go. "Don't be afraid to though." Campbell gave a glance to Johnny and nodded in acceptance. Johnny and Meryl didn't understand why Campbell accepted Johnny as Meryl's husband at the day of their wedding. However, they were happy either way.

Both Meryl and Johnny separated to talk to different people. Meryl first noticed Sunny, who was by herself crying. "Sunny? That's your name right?" Sunny slowly looked towards Meryl.

"Meryl? Hi. I was at your wedding, remember?"

Meryl laughed. "Of course I remember." Sunny wiped a few tears.

It was two years after the Guns of the Patriots incident. After the mission, Snake went off by himself. Shortly, he found Otacon with him in the middle of Alaska, where Snake first was before the Shadow Moses incident. According to Otacon, Snake slipped and suddenly fell off a cliff. Helicopters and rescue teams searched for Snake for hours. No one could find his body. He was presumed dead a month ago.

As Meryl tried to cheer Sunny up, Mei Ling confronted Johnny. "Johnny! I haven't seen you since the wedding. How's Meryl?"

"She's fine. She promised she wouldn't cry."

Mei Ling giggled. "I already failed that self-promise. How's your". Mei Ling paused. "Problem?"

Johnny laughed. "Meryl taught me deep breathing techniques. I haven't had any over the top diarrhea problems since the Guns of the Patriots incident."

Mei Ling smiled. "That's good to hear. If you're hungry, feel free to get something at the table over there. Campbell made his famous 'pigs in a blanket'."

Johnny smiled and nodded. Once Mei Ling left, he sped over to the table. He snatched one of the breaded sausages. "Good God! This is amazing!" He shoved two more into his mouth.

Meryl rushed to Johnny. "What are you doing? Stop stuffing yourself like a pig!"

"Meryl! You have to try these."

Meryl took one of the 'pigs in a blanket'. "This is no time to be eating." She took a bite. Her eyes widened. "This is good!" She joined in. As they were both shoving their faces, they heard a voice behind them.

"Are you two Meryl and Johnny?" Meryl and Johnny froze. Both looked at each other in a state of embarrassment. Quickly they chewed like wild animals and swallowed. Then they both turned. In front of them was the silver haired soldier, Raiden.

Meryl wiped her mouth with her hand. "Hello. Yes we are. You must be Raiden. I never had the chance to meet you." She offered her hand in handshake. She quickly realized that that same hand was used to wipe her mouth. Raiden took it anyway. "Sorry."

Rose slowly caught up to Raiden. She had John following close to her. "Raiden. Who are these two?"

Raiden pointed both out. "This is Meryl and this is Johnny."

John immediately jumped. "You and I have the same name. Sort of."

Johnny looked towards Raiden. "His name is Johnny?"

"John." Raiden answer. "And this is my wife, Rose."

Rose reached over for a handshake, which both accepted. "It's very nice to meet you both."

Raiden awkwardly laughed. "Sorry we weren't at your wedding."

Meryl fake laughed. "That's alright. I hope you don't mind, Johnny needs to talk with me privately. We're just going to sneak by if you don't mind."

"We do?" Meryl gave Johnny a glace that screamed 'shut up or I'm going to kill you'. Johnny corrected himself. "I mean, we do! Maybe we'll catch up sometime later. Buh-bye." Both rushed off. Johnny caught up to Meryl. "What's your deal?"

"I don't know. Those three crept me out!" Meryl rushed straight to the outdoor garden. "He was a pretty boy who had eyes that wanted to molest me. She was seemed passive aggressive. And the kid looked like the zombie kid on the Internet that says, 'I like turtles'."

Johnny laughed. "You're horrible, Meryl. Also, are you saying you were attracted to that guy?"

Meryl laughed as well. "I thought he was a woman for a minute! Maybe that's a wig."

"Got a thing for pretty boys?"

Meryl crossed her arms. "Excuse me, flashy eyelash boy?"

"Are you calling me a pretty boy?"

"Yes. Yes I am. You're like a mix between Snake and that guy."

"So, I'm not the porridge that's too hot or cold. I'm the porridge that's just right?"

Meryl sighed. "Yep. Snake was the one that was too hot. I was hoping for him to cool down. He never did. So I guess that does make you just right."

"Well thanks a lot." Both laughed and slowly sat on the floor next to a hedge. "I can't believe he's really dead."

"I know." She slowly moved towards Johnny for a hug. "I'm not going to cry."

"I know, Meryl. I know."

Within minutes, the ceremony that everyone had been waiting for began. Every guest in the mansion collected together in the heart of the garden. At that point, a gravestone had already been placed.

Campbell began his speech. "When I look amongst us, I see a family. A group brought together by one common benefactor: this man. He was a man who hardly said a word. He was a man who hardly needed to say a word. He may have seemed grim and cold, but we all saw right through that." Mei Ling was the first to start crying. Campbell continued. "He claimed that he was not a hero, but we see differently. He saved us all." Sunny began crying. "He never cared what people thought of him. He didn't care when the world slandered his name as a terrorist. He continued to fight."

Rose quickly picked John up. John hugged her head. Rose began crying.

"If he were alive today, I think the one thing I would want to tell him is the truth about all of us. And that truth is that we all love him. We all love him as family. We all love him as a brother. We all love him as a protector. We all love him as a friend." Meryl slowly noticed Raiden crying. Campbell tried to continue his words, but began crying to. He still continued. "It is with heavy heart the we say goodbye to him. So, let us not say goodbye to him. Instead, let us say the one thing we all want him to know."

Everyone said in perfect sync, "We love you. Thank you." At that moment, Campbell covered his face in tears. Meryl looked around. Everyone was already crying. Meryl slowly looked next to her. Johnny had tears rolling down his cheek. Meryl looked back towards the grave. _'Should I be crying'_ was all that rushed through her mind. But she didn't cry. She kept her promise and went back into the mansion without a tear. Campbell promised everyone a bed in the mansion and everyone accepted.

Meryl rested her head on the pillow. Johnny grabbed hold of her in the bed and kissed her forehead. "I love you, Meryl."

Meryl hugged him. "I love you too." Meryl slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep. She kept her promise. She didn't cry.


	2. Chapter 2: Zombie

Chapter 2: Zombies

Johnny opened his eyes and noticed Meryl wasn't there. It was six in the morning and still dark. As he rushed out of the bedroom, he could hear only the faint sound of the television. Only two people were awake: Sunny and Campbell. Sunny was busy making breakfast. Sunny's cooking had improved very much, enough for her to be able to make a full course me for everyone in the house. "Johnny. Good morning. Anything you want to eat for the morning?"

"Coffee for right now. Have you seen Meryl?"

"She's walking in the garden. I think she wants to be alone." Campbell answered for Sunny. Sunny began making some coffee. Campbell looked towards Johnny. "Sit with me." Johnny sat down. "Do you two have any plans going on?"

"We've been trying to have a kid." Johnny looked to the floor. "We haven't been having any luck."

Campbell smiled. "The fact that you're really trying make me happy. I wonder how it feels to be a grandfather." Campbell returned his attention to the television. Johnny joined in watching.

"So how much did you two talk about me behind me back?" Meryl was suddenly behind them both. Johnny jumped off his seat, and Campbell laughed.

"Christ! You scared me to death!" Johnny slowly got up and noticed Sunny coming over with his coffee. "Oh, thanks Sunny." Sunny smiled then turned. At that moment, Meryl asked a quick question.

"Where's Otacon, Sunny?" Sunny froze.

"U-Uncle Hal?" Sunny turned around in doubt. "A-A-After Snake was pronounced dead, I lost touched with him." Meryl tiled her head in concern. "H-His last word to me was, 'I have something I need to do'. K-Kinda like what Snake said to him."

Campbell turned his head. "Sunny's been living in my house ever since. I let her practice cooking and I just float around. I let her bring all her tech stuff and toys."

"Y-Y-Yes. Uncle Campbell has been really nice to me." Sunny turned her head and noticed Raiden, Rose, and John coming down stairs. "Jack. Rose. John. Good morning!" The four gathered in the kitchen.

Meryl called to Sunny. "Can you make be a cup of coffee too?" Sunny turned and nodded. "Thank you." Meryl quickly sat between Johnny and her father. "What boredom are we watching on television now?"

"Just the news. It's amazing how the world has reacted to the change in pace. People are now living for themselves and each other. Not a word of war in sight."

Meryl sighed. "How long do you think it'll last?" Sunny appeared and gave Meryl her coffee. "Thanks again."

Campbell took a deep breath. "I'm not getting my hopes up."

The news was interrupt by a sudden report.

_"Ladies and gentlemen, this just in. The Statue of Liberty has been destroyed!"_

Meryl and Johnny stood from their seats. "What!" Everyone turned towards the TV screen.

_A piece of paper was placed in front of the anchorwoman. "Oh my God! Multiple cities and world monuments have been bombed at the same time as the Statue of Liberty. Fatalities have yet to be counted, but well over ten thousand is expected. No one knows who has committed these deeds." The screen suddenly began to fade into static. "Ladies and gentlemen, it appears we are experiencing technical difficulties." The screen faded to black._

Everyone glanced at each other. The screen shot back on in a scare.

_"Is it on?" A man dressed in a red soldier suit with a black mask appeared on the screen. "I think it's working! YEAH, MOTHER FUCKERS! How ya'll doing?"_

_A woman in an orange soldier suit pushed him away. "We have a public announcement to make. This video should now be on television screens across the globe."_

_The red clothed man returned. "That's right, bitches!"_

_The orange woman pushed him back. "Shut the hell up!"_

_"Fine, bitch!"_

_"I am Ms. Orange. We are the Zombie Squad."_

Johnny spoke softly. "What a dumb name." Everyone shushed him.

_"In case you were wondering, we're the ones who bombed all those places you had been hearing about. Why am I telling you this you ask?"_

_The red man returned. "Because there ain't nothing you gonna be able to do about it! I'm Mr. Red. How ya'll fuckers doing?" Rose quickly took John away from the screen. "Anything ya'll throw at us, we'll throw back. Whatever soldier you send at us, we'll shoot down. And there ain't a damn thing you can do about it."_

_Ms. Orange threw him away from the screen. "What we're trying to say is, if you don't want this stuff to happen again, you'd better listen. Every country. We demand that every country across the globe deliver their 'leader type' to us, or else we blow that country to Hell and back. Got it?"_

_Mr. Red returned. "Remember that piece of shit place, Shadow Moses. That's where we are located. So if you don't know the address, you'd better figure it out! Unless you wanna go 'boom'!" Mr. Red began laughing hysterically as he walked away from the screen._

_Ms. Orange then picked up the camera. She moved it back to show several members. Mr. Red and Ms. Orange were two. Other members had the colors Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, White, and Black. All eight of the members lined up shoulder to shoulder._

_Mr. Red took his mask off. It revealed the face of Vamp._

Raiden's heart nearly stopped. "Impossible."

_Ms. Orange took her mask off. Emma Emerich._

Raiden grew even more horrified.

_Ms. Yellow revealed herself._

Meryl and Johnny looked towards each other. "Sniper Wolf?"

_Ms. Blue revealed herself._

Sunny dropped her plate. "Naomi!"

_Mr. Green then followed. Revealing the face of Psycho Mantis._

_Mr. Purple removed his. It was the face of Liquid Snake when he was alive in Shadow Moses._

Everyone froze in complete confusion. No one knew what to say.

The screen then focused on Mr. Black. Once his masked was removed, no one reacted. No one knew who he was. Mr. White stood frozen. He didn't take off his mask, nor did anyone else take it off for him.

_Ms. Orange came towards the camera. "Now you know what we are called the Zombie Squad. The faces we posses are the faces of the dead."_

Mr. Red jumped. "That's right. And you can't kill the dead! YEAH! FUCK OFF!"

_Ms. Orange smiled. "I suggest you collect all the world leaders you can and drop them off at our front door. Okay? Love you. Bye!" The television returned to the news. The anchorwoman was staring at the camera with her jaw dropped. She then quickly signaled to cut the show._

A technical difficulty message appeared. Campbell turned the television off.

There was complete silence. Rose and John slowly returned. "Who are they?" Nobody wanted to answer. Meryl spoke first. "I know half of those. I know their dead! I saw two of those three die in front of me! The other one Snake told me died!"

Raiden joined in with the shock. "I killed Vamp! Naomi died beside him! And Vamp killed Emma!" Raiden quickly nodded his head. "It doesn't make sense. Vamp didn't speak like that, and neither did Emma."

Sunny started crying. "How could they do that to Naomi? That's not fair!"

Meryl started going berserk. "Did any of you know the man in black?" Nobody said a word. Raiden nodded that he didn't. Sunny didn't. Rose didn't. She turned towards Johnny and Campbell.

Campbell covered his face in horror. Johnny was frozen. "Dad?" Johnny had tears rolling down his face. He immediately rushed away from the couch and held his face to resist shouting every curse word known to man. "That…man has the face of my father!"


	3. Chapter 3: Mission Briefing

Chapter 3: Mission Briefing

Rose hugged her husband again. Raiden slowly spoke, "I'm sorry."

Rose smiled and nodded her head. "You have to do what you have do. Just promise me you'll come back alive. Don't do anything insane like last time. You have a different body now. A somewhat human body in comparison."

Raiden laughed. "I know. No more cutting my arm off." Rose kept a straight face, which clearly meant she didn't find that funny.

"Dad." John walked up to his father. "Beat em' down." Raiden gently smiled.

Rose took a deep breath. "Meryl and Johnny need you. There is no way they will be able to handle what they have alone. They need something beyond human."

"And that's me right?" Raiden twirled his sword and put it in his sheath. He grabbed a revolver and put it in his holster. "Haven't used a gun in a while." Raiden turned towards his family. "How do I look?"

Before Rose could answer, John screamed, "You look awesome!" Raiden was wearing an OctoCamo suit much like Snake. Raiden patted his son on the head.

"I have to go, okay? You take care of your mother." Raiden looked at his wife who was holding back tears. "I'll be fine. I promise." Raiden hugged his son and kissed his wife. He started to rush off.

"Jack!" Raiden quickly turned. "All of you will have codec. You guys can call me anytime!" Raiden nodded. "I love you!"

Raiden smiled. "I love you too."

Inside the Nomad, Sunny sat in front of the three fighters. "What the three of you are wearing is what Snake used in his last mission: OctoCamo. With it, you'll"

Meryl interrupted. "I'm sorry Sunny, but we know what it does." Johnny and Raiden nodded.

Sunny stood surprised. "Oh. Okay. Uncle Campbell. Go ahead."

Campbell gave a grim face. "What you are about to go through now is a very delicate mission. The outside of Shadow Moses is a battlefield. Soldiers from all around the world have joined forces to take down this same foe."

Johnny started to sweat. "Wait. If forces for several countries around the world are fighting, shouldn't we be winning?"

Campbell took a deep breath. "We are losing." Everyone jumped. "Reports say a man in white is the only thing keeping them from passing through."

"Impossible." Meryl tightened her fist. "If it were Snake, he wouldn't last as long as this man has been. Snake is good, but not that good."

"Whatever they're facing," Raiden crossed his legs, "it isn't human."

"Precisely. Snipers have made reports that they had successfully shot him in the head multiple times. He doesn't fall."

"Not even Vamp could do that. Vamp would fall over after a bullet to the head."

"Raiden. Vamp is nothing compared to this man. Whoever he is, he fears nothing."

_'I just don't fear death'_, a phrase that rushed through his Raiden's head.

"Your jobs is to enter Shadow Moses without being spotted."

Johnny stood up. "If not a single soldier has been able to enter, how are we doing to be able to?"

Campbell lowered his head. "The military has spoken with me. They plan to perform a full frontal assault while the three of you sneak in."

"You mean. They are performing suicide." Meryl covers her mouth. "This can't be that serious. They have weapons! What about rockets or grenades? Why can't we nuke the place?"

"Any grenade that reached the soldier in white became a dud. Any missile that got close to him blew up before even getting the chance to get close to him."

"Much like Fortune." Everyone looked at Raiden in confusion. "A woman I fought. Don't worry about it."

Campbell folded his hands. "They have hostages, so we cannot drop a nuclear bomb." Campbell pulled out photos delivered from the military. On it, it showed a white soldier with dozens of corpses around him. "Barely anyone has been able to get past him, and those who did, the military lost contact with."

Raiden began to shake. "This is a suicide mission then. We don't know what is inside there."

Campbell nodded. "Not exactly. Soldiers have been able to provide enough information with the entrance to let us know what is exactly there. Soldiers began telling what they saw inside before they lost contact. The entire front entrance is filled with traps."

"What do we do then?" Meryl hugged one knee on her seat.

"We enter through the ventilation shafts that Snake entered the first time he came." Meryl and Johnny nodded as to what Campbell was talking about. Both knew exactly what to do. Meryl had heard Snake's mission several times and Johnny knew majority of the region.

Raiden looked towards them both. "Good to know you guys know what you're doing."

After a quick awkward silence, Meryl spoke up. "Are they wearing masks? How do they have those faces?"

Sunny came forward. "I-I-I can answer that. There are three possibilities. One, they could actually be corpses re-animated by ghosts that do not belong to those bodies."

Meryl scratched her head. "I kinda doubt that."

Johnny elbowed Meryl. "Psycho Mantis. After him, I don't doubt much."

"Good point."

Sunny continued. "Two, they were given their faces through surgery." Sunny sat down. "As we all know, most of the bodies were left to rot and decay, so I find that hard to believe. So then my final guess, OctoCamo masks."

Meryl's eyes flipped open. "Like the one Snake wore?"

"Exactly. We don't know what these "Zombies" can do. The only one we know anything about is the white one. I suggest avoiding him."

Campbell came forwards with a crate filled with guns. "Compliments from Drebin. He'll also be available."

Johnny laughed. "Sweet."

Meryl tilted her head. "But the times of ID weaponry is over. How does he still have a job?"

Campbell smiled. "A man carrying weapons used by the famous Solid Snake. I think his name is going around."

Weapons were passed around amongst them. Campbell picked up a magnum and handed it to Meryl. Once Meryl placed her hand on it and pulled away, Campbell wouldn't let go. She looked towards his eyes. "Are all three of you sure you want to do this?"

All of them nodded.

"Meryl. Please be careful." Campbell let go of the gun. "All of you have contact access to Sunny and myself, Rose, Mei Ling, and Drebin. If you ever need info, give us a ring. Sunny and I will help you with all the information we have. Rose will provide help for your psyche. Mei Ling suggests that you call her in order to record anything you've done in your mission for further reference. And of course Drebin will provide you will weaponry."

Sunny jumped off her seat. "I almost forgot." She rushed to the back of plane. A small machine rolled out. "This is the MK IV. I built this one. I'll be using it to assist you guys wherever you go."

Meryl smiled. "Much like Otacon, right?"

Sunny nodded. "Yeah." She started to frown. "I-I-I wish I knew where he is."

Campbell spoke up. "We have lost our greatest hero. It is time for his greatest allies to step forth and prove themselves. Understand, I want all three of you to come back alive." Campbell stood still and proud. "Kill any bastard that owns a face that doesn't belong to them, got it?" All nodded. "Good luck."


	4. Chapter 4: Onslaught

Chapter 4: Onslaught

Meryl, Johnny, and Raiden slowly walked towards the military camp. Upon reaching it, dozens of soldiers cheered in glee. Men rushed over and gave the three of them a seat. They were given drinks, gifts, rations, and songs. The soldiers, different languages and country, all sang together in cheer that the 'heroes' have finally come.

Meryl looked towards the other two. They both felt the same way. They didn't feel like heroes. Meryl spoke to one of the soldiers. "I don't understand. Why are you all so happy?"

"It's because the three of you are going to return peace!" Meryl tilted her head. "Countries are at war with themselves right now. You see, certain countries are trying to overthrow their government in order to send their leader to Shadow Moses. Many world leaders are refusing to go, thus leading their entire country to go into upheaval."

Another soldier spoke up. "About five countries have had their leader WILLINGLY send themselves to this place."

The same soldier from before spoke up. "If you guys are going to help us return the peace we once had, we'll be happy to sacrifice ourselves to save the peace."

Johnny looked towards the soldiers. "So why don't we send our political leaders? It's better than sacrificing men."

Raiden put his hand on Johnny's shoulder. "How do we know they'll keep their word? What if they bomb us after sending all of them?" Johnny looked toward the floor in disappointment.

There was no way to change their mind. They were going to die for a mission that could fail. The soldiers didn't care. It was a chance. A chance to have the peace Solid Snake gave the world. It was a chance to show that the world can rely on each other.

It was time. All three squatted together. Their suits turned white to match the snow. "This is the coolest thing ever!" Johnny smiled to ease the pain, but went back to a frown. Raiden was leading the three. Johnny was in the back. Meryl was in between.

Within seconds before the rush, Meryl slowly cried to herself. Johnny gripped her hand and squeezed tight. Meryl slowly let go. "Johnny. Raiden. Let's make sure their sacrifice wasn't in vein."

"Ready." The three could feel their heart speed up. "Set." The three slowly squatted up. "CHARGE!" Soldiers ran like mad. They screamed to get the white soldier's attention. The scream of barbarians mixed with the scream of dying men. The soldier was already shooting them down. The man stood in the middle of the Heliport.

_**'A Hind D? Colonel, what's a Russian gunship doing here?'**_

The three were rushing past the large crates to the right of the helipad. All three stopped to rest for a second. Johnny looked towards the white soldier. The man wasn't flinching a bit from all the bullets that were entering his body. The man slowly reached behind him and pulled out a grenade launcher.

Johnny screamed at the top of his lungs. "Look out!" It was too late. Soldiers flew short distances across the snowfield.

The man in white heard the sound of Johnny's scream and spotted the three of them. "Oh shit!" Johnny covered his mouth.

Raiden looked towards the three of them. "He's spotted us!"

Meryl's tears burned in fury. "GO!" She shoved Raiden and dragged Johnny to catch up with her. The three ran like madmen to the stairs.

_**'A surveillance camera?'**_

The man in white aimed his grenade launch at the three with his fingers ready at the trigger. Meryl glanced at the man during the madness. The moment the man noticed Meryl, his finger loosened. The man quickly turned around and fired rounds at the soldiers coming.

As soon as they reached upstairs, they all rushed into the ventilation shaft. Meryl spoke as they went through. "Guys. I saw the guy. He had his grenade launcher aimed STRAIGHT AT US! And he didn't shoot!"

Raiden was crawling at a swift pace. "Maybe he gave up on us." Rats began shuffling.

Johnny screamed. "Ah! A rat scared the crap out of me!"

Raiden laughed. "You're not going to have diarrhea problems now, are you?"

"Shut up, pretty boy." Johnny kept moving.

Meryl thought out loud. "Even if Snake survived the fall, he'd be dead by now. His aging would have caused him to die."

Raiden began slowing down. "You still think it's Snake?"

Meryl replied. "I don't know. I don't think it is."

Raiden reached the end of the shaft. It was broken midway. Raiden gently landed on solid ground and checked the area. "Clear." The two quickly rushed out. Meryl landed perfectly on her feet. Johnny landed on his rear.

Meryl looked around. "They said there would be traps here. Where are they?" The room was dead silent. All of them scanned through the room. Nothing. Sunny revealed the MKIV to them.

"I scanned everything here. Were the soldiers lying?" Sunny slid the MK toward the large door to the north east of the room.

Johnny laughed to himself. "Isn't that where Snake fought the tank all by himself?"

Sunny tried to get the door to open. "No good. When Uncle Hal came here with Snake last time, these door was accessible to anyone. Now, they seem to have locked it."

Meryl rushed to the elevator. "It's opening!" All three readied their assault rifles. The elevator opened. Nothing. The three slowly walked in.

Johnny turned on his NV goggles. "There's nobody in here. Not on the ceiling or anything." Meryl pressed B1. The elevator slowly lowered down. Nobody said a word. The screams of the soldiers were echoing in their ear. Once the elevator open, Johnny broke the silence. "So. This is it." Raiden and Meryl looked at him in confusion. Johnny looked at Meryl with a frank smile. "This is where we first met."

Meryl smiled while wiping her tears. "Come on guys. Let's check the area."

"You two go ahead." Raiden exclaimed.

"But. Why?" Meryl scratched her head.

"For one thing, we need to cover more ground. The other thing, I'll let you two have your moment here." Raiden smiled.

Meryl's smile turned cold. "You better be serious about that. If you turn out to be a spy or something behind our back, I will kill you myself."

Raiden nodded. He then tossed his sword towards them. "Hold onto that for me. I'll be back for it. I need to get use to my guns anyway. And besides, Sunny will be with me. Meet back on the 1st floor. Got it!" Both nodded. The elevator slowly closed and moved down to floor B2.

Johnny and Meryl exchanged glances and picked up the blade. Johnny stared at it. "Did you really think he was a spy?"

Meryl nodded her head side to side. "No. I just don't know him. I was that cold to you when you first joined Rat Patrol, remember?"

"Yeah, but you had treated me worse." Johnny began laughing hysterically.

"You mean when I beat you down and stole your clothes? How did you fall in love with me after I did that to you?"

"Well, I wasn't happy about it. But I found meaning in you."

_**'That witch! She took my clothes! Oh… my stomach!'**_

Meryl slowly entered first into the old cell room. The room was empty. Dead empty. Meryl quickly checked both the cells. "Nothing there."

Both checked the rest area near the cells. Still nothing. Both then heard a buzzing sound coming from the bathroom. With their guns ready, they slammed the bathroom door open.

"OH JESUS!" Meryl held her nose in horror. "This obviously YOUR doing!"

Johnny was slightly irate but immune. "The toilet broke after a while! I'm shocked it all hasn't been eaten by the maggots yet."

"That's disgusting! I'm sure they couldn't eat it!" Meryl walked into the center of room.

_**'Hurt me more!'**_

"Johnny? Did you say something?"

Johnny looked around. "No."

**_'More, Snake. MORE!'_**

Both had heard that. It was coming from the torture chamber not far from their location.

* * *

What Raiden found at floor B2 was a somewhat defrosted storage room. "Seems like they tried to fix this area up." Snake slowly walked around. He stepped over several of the already opened floor traps. Far from him, he could see a hole in the wall.

The MKVI quickly sped towards the hole. Sunny's face came on the screen. "It's clear, Jack." Raiden rushed over.

**_'Just what I'd expect from the man with the same code name as the boss.'_**

Raiden froze. "Sunny. Did you hear that?"

"You mean something about 'having the same code name as the boss'?"

"Good. Then I'm not going crazy." Raiden slowly entered the same room Snake first met Ocelot. The room had been left in such decay. With water dripping from melting ice, the room was vacant and ugly. With one step, the room echoed loudly:

**_'No! Don't touch it!'_**

Raiden jumped back in fear. The room then echoed with footsteps. "Do you hear it? It is the cries of the dead."

The man slowly came into view. "Mr. Purple?" The man covered in purple twirled his revolver.

"Ah, yes. My pet name. Don't bother call me that."

"Why do you look like Liquid Snake? He's dead!"

"Oh, that?" The man reached towards his neck and pulled off an OctoCamo mask. "It's about time we revealed our true intentions." The man slowly removed his purple outfit, revealing white body armor. "I am Revolver Onslaught." The man held no resemblance to Ocelot or Liquid.

"Revolver…Onslaught? Kind of a rip from Ocelot, don't you think?"

"Exactly. It's the perfect poetry. Taking the visage of a cold killer and using it to kill more. Isn't it brilliant." Onslaught twirled his revolver as he stepped slowly.

Raiden readied the revolver he brought with him. "You're not Ocelot. You never will be."

"It doesn't matter. We have bigger plans."

"Like what?"

"Simple. To kill as many people as we can!" The man smiled and slowly put his revolver in his holster. "And all your doing is preventing me from having my fun."

"Sick freak."

"Come now. I may be a sadistic bastard, but I hold respect for the Old West. Come on. Let us fight like the ol' cowboys of yester-years." Raiden slowly put his revolver in his holster.

Ocelot's voice echoed with Onslaught's voice.

**_"DRAW!"_**


	5. Chapter 5: Story Teller

Chapter 5: Story Teller

Raiden pulled his out first and made a quick shot, but missed. Immediately, the two used the pillars in the room as cover. As they rushed around the room, bullets flashed across the room. "Kid. You're facing a master."

The two chased each other as if in a marry-go-round. In one quick flash, the two shot at each other. Raiden missed. Onslaught succeeded.

"HA! I told you kid. You're dealing with a master." The man slowly reloaded his gun. "Might want to give up now." The room suddenly flashed in white light. "Huh?"

**_'You're pretty good.'_**

"WR. What are you doing?" The room flashed again. Onslaught's suit slowly turned from white to red. "WR. Are you betraying us?"

Raiden hid next to a pillar away from Onslaught. "WR? What is he talking about?" Raiden quickly reloaded his gun.

"WR. When Black finds out about this, he WILL kill you."

A female voice echoed in the room. "Raiden."

**_'I'm a prisoner of Death. Only you can free me…'_**

"You think this kid can save you? Ha! You can't even save yourself!" At that instant, something flashed across the room.

**_'What! My hand!'_**

Onslaught searched around the room. "WR. Those flashes of light that ran past me. I know that wasn't you."

"Raiden will save me. The pr…ce…and the…prin…ess…will" The voice of WR slowly faded away. However, Onslaught seemed to know what she was saying.

"And what do you think will happen to me?"

"You….will….DIE!" Immediately, the sudden flashes came to a stop as a body fell from the ceiling. A sword slashed right down his back.

Raiden aimed his gun at the scene. "A….cyborg ninja?"

**_'I'm like you….I have no name.'_**

The ninja slowly stood above the lingering body of Onslaught. Onslaught turned over and slowly crawled backwards while on his back. "Who the Hell are you?"

The ninja wiped the body from his blade and spoke in a dark manner. "Your death." In an immediate swipe, the ninja chopped off Onslaught's arm. Onslaught screamed in horror. The scream was silenced soon after his head was chopped off his body.

Raiden slowly backed down as the ninja glanced towards him. The ninja quickly put his sword away and walked towards Raiden. He stopped 1 foot away from Raiden. "When the WR is finished talking to you, get Meryl and Johnny to meet with me at the 1st floor. We have much to do, and little time." The ninja then vanished in stealth camouflage and rushed off.

Raiden searched the room with his goggles, but no one was inside with him. No ninja. No WR. Suddenly, the room slowly turned white. The room became what felt like a dream. Everything blurred until a woman stood in front of Raiden. The woman wore a white cloak and dress. Her face was hidden.

"Raiden. Why are you without your sword?" WR slowly walked towards him.

"Are you WR?" Raiden pointed his gun in her direction.

"You can't shoot me. This isn't really me. Much more of a vision of me." The woman slowly sat on a chair that randomly appeared behind her. "For now, don't call me WR. Call me Story Teller."

"Story Teller? What…are you going to read me a bed time story or something?"

"You could say that. However, I suggest you don't fall asleep." Story Teller folded her arms. "Once upon a time, there was a small family in Texas: a mother, a father, and four boys. They lived in a very secluded section of town due to their wealth. One day, some freak decides that he can't stand the idea of this family."

Story Teller lit a cigarette in her mouth. "So he busted into the house with a sawed off shotgun and began shooting. He killed the father and mother first. However, the children hid. At the time, the kids were playing hide and seek. Once their heard their mother and father shot down, they began screaming. All except one child. That child rushed to his father's bedroom and hid underneath the bed. As the cold murderer dealt with the little boys brothers, he slowly walked into the bed room." Raiden's blood ran cold. "The man sat on the bed and called out, 'Come on out you little rascal'. The man then lifted the bed off the floor. A shot was fired."

The Story Teller laughed to herself. "The shot came from a revolver the boy found under the bed. He shot the murderer straight through the skull. A flawless shot." She released some smoke from her lungs. The smoke however didn't seem to have any affect on Raiden. "Later, the boy was sent to an orphanage. In that orphanage were six children, including himself, and a priest. What the priest and other kids didn't know was that the boy had snuck the previous used revolver. The boy found each child and shot each one after the other. Once he got to the priest, he fired. He was out of bullets. One bullet to the murderer, five to the children. The boy ran."

Raiden felt unsteady. "Then what happened?"

"He became an underground mass murderer. He underwent the title 'Revolver'. It wasn't until now he was asked to include "Onslaught" to his name."

Raiden jumped. "That boy was…"

"The man dead beside me." She noticed Raiden in fear. "Don't worry. Don't feel sympathy. Don't feel empathy. He chose his own path. You see, Jack. What you are up against is a gang of mass murderers. You no longer face super humans."

"What about the white soldier?"

"He won't kill you. Or hurt anyone else anymore. At least, he won't for now. If he kills anyone, it might be that girl of yours."

"Meryl?"

"He too has his limits. And those limits are controlled by Black."

"I don't understand. What is the purpose of all these colors? White, red, black."

"Only three colors matter. White, innocence. Red, guilty. Black, sin. Onslaught went from white to red. Everyone is given a blank flag when they are born. What color they chose to taint it with is up to them. You. You tainted yours with silver."

"Silver?"

Story Teller smiled. "The path of the lost but found. You follow a glittery path of silver with the constant thought that it is gray, the closest color to black. However, you've finally seen its shimmer. Maybe someday you'll follow the golden path, just like he did."

"He?"

"I've said too much." Story Teller quickly stood up. "Go meet with the prince and the princess. Take them to the all-knowing wizard. He will lead you on through the world of oz."

"What is this to you, a fairy tale? And what does WR mean?"

"Almost. It is more of a fairy tale than you think it is." The light around the Story Teller slowly faded. "WR. The White Rabbit."

"What?"

"Welcome to Wonderland. We will meet again." WR vanished completely. The room was back to what it was. Raiden walked over to the body of Onslaught.

"Two revolvers? I might give it a try." Raiden took it. As soon as he picked it up, his codec began ringing.

"This is Raiden. I've found the member once known as Mr. Purple. Real name was Revolver Onslaught."

The other line spoke up. "Raiden? This Meryl. Everything is clear here. We just keep hearing voices. That's all."

"I'll explain that later. I need to call Rose for a second. Wait on that floor for me."

Johnny could be heard slipping on something. "Okay. Be quick. This place is giving me the creeps."

Raiden entered Rose's codec number. Once the line picked up, Rose spoke immediately. "Jack. Have you ever wanted to marry someone named Jill?"

"Rose…What?"

"Jill. You know." Rose began singing. "Jack and Jill went up a hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and bumped his crown, and Jill came tumbling after." Rose giggled. "You've heard that song, right."

"Rose. Are you okay?"

"How can you ask if I'm okay? OF COURSE I'M NOT OKAY! You have prettier hair than I do!!"

"Rose. I'm going to have to call you back."

"I shampoo my hair AS HARD AS I CAN, and your hair is ALWAYS BETTER! You lousy piece of." Raiden hung up on her.

Raiden stopped before calling Colonel. "This reminds me so much of that one time."

**_'I need scissors. 61!'_**

Colonel picked up the other line. Before he got the chance to speak, Sunny spoke from the MK IV. "Jack. U-Uncle Campbell is acting weird!"

"Jack. Did you know that Meryl was the first girl ever to defeat lord Dracula. However, the writers were to sexist to allow her victory to be canon. Instead, they claim that Johnny went to an old town called Silent Hill and danced with a bunch of aliens while some blonde lady devoured a fetus. Quite nasty if you asked me."

"What?" Raiden immediately hung up and called Drebin.

Drebin picked up the phone. "Raiden. How ya doing?"

"Drebin. Your okay."

"No. I'm not okay. I HAVE THE MOST HORRIBLE GAS! This man hit me with a lead pipe while I was dancing on the ceiling. When I fell down, I farted so loudly. Everyone laughed at me."

"…..What the hell is going on?"


	6. Chapter 6: Befuddle

Chapter 6: Befuddle

Meryl and Johnny waited patiently in front of the elevator. Eventually, the elevator rose up. As the doors opened, Raiden rushed into the room.

"Guys. Have you called Campbell, Rose, or Drebin lately?" Meryl and Johnny looked towards each other.

"No." The instant Meryl answered, she received a call. "Oh. Hold on a minute." Colonel appeared on the other line. "Dad?"

"Meryl. There's a turtle in my house!"

Meryl's eyebrows lowered in confusion. "What?'

"Hang on. I'm going to poke it with a stick."

A loud poke could be heard. "Ow!" Sunny cried out. "Uncle Campbell. What are you doing?"

"Meryl! The turtle is talking!"

"Dad. Did you have anything to drink?"

"I did drink the blood of a light bulb….."

Meryl was unresponsive for a split second. "……..okay………"

"It tasted like Sunny's eggs." Campbell froze for a second. "Do you think they call it Sunny Side Up because Sunny makes eggs? If that's true, which side of Sunny is up?"

Meryl, stunned, slowly hung up. "Bizarre…"

Johnny noticed a bullet wound on Raiden. "Raiden? Were you shot?"

Raiden looked towards his bullet wound. "Oh. No big. This "Revolver Onslaught" guy shot me. After that, a bunch of white flashes started blinding the two of us."

Meryl and Johnny tilted their head. Meryl opened her mouth first. "Revolver…."

Johnny continued. "Onslaught?"

"Yeah! Then this weird lady summoned a ninja to fall from the ceiling and kill him." Johnny and Meryl looked at each other. "The woman then appeared in front of me as a vision and told me that she was the 'White Rabbit' and to call her 'Story Teller'." The two then looked back towards Raiden. "She told me to meet with you two and that we are to meet with that SAME ninja on the first floor. After that, I called Colonel to find him acting the way he is."

Meryl then interrupted. "Wait. You mentioned Rose and Drebin."

"Both of them are acting weird too."

The MK IV moved in between all of them. Sunny opened the screen. "Guys. People around the world are acting up. Strange things are happening!" Everyone looked towards the machine.

"Sunny. Why aren't you affected?" Raiden squatted to face her.

"I don't know. I feel fine. You should see what's on television. News reporters are stripping off their clothes and screaming about porcupines! Oprah came on stage with mashed potato all over herself!"

"Calm down. Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"None what-so-ever. Nothing could cause such a massive amount of people to go batty! Not even JD back when it was still running!"

Meryl suddenly spoke up. "Sunny. 'The Orphan'!"

Sunny froze in confusion. "What?"

Meryl pulled out a piece of paper. On it was a list of several titles.

/

The Prince

The Princess

The Scout

The Orphan

The White Rabbit

The Wizard

The Journal

/

Everyone looked at each other. Raiden was the first to speak up. "The White Rabbit. That was the lady I dealt with. And she called her ninja a 'wizard'."

Meryl nodded. "The prince and princess might stand for me and Johnny. The orphan could stand for Sunny. The scout is most definitely you!"

All stared at the last title. "The Journal?" Johnny thought for a minute. "Everyone makes sense except that last one." Johnny thought for a minute. Something shot up in his mind. "Raiden. Did you ever call Mei Ling?"

Raiden smacked his forehead. "I forgot!"

Johnny immediately called her. Mei Ling picked up. "Hey, are you guys feeling okay?"

"Uh. Mei Ling." Johnny was trying to scramble up a plan in his head. "Are YOU feeling okay?"

"Um….I feel fine. Do you guys want me to log any new information on our mission?"

"No. I mean, not now….it's just." Johnny thought of something to make sure she isn't acting strange. "Did Meryl ever tell you that, during the briefing for the Outer Haven mission, I tried to grab your ass?"

Meryl's jaw dropped.

Mei Ling was silent for a minute. "No….I don't think she did."

"Well I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"It's…it's okay I guess. Are you okay? You're acting weird."

"I'm fine. Just wanted to make sure you're okay. Bye!"

"Johnny, wai" Johnny hung up.

"Mei Ling is the Journal. Everyone that we know of on this list has not gone crazy…." Johnny felt a chill in his body.

Suddenly, a voice echoed in the hall. "Excuse me. Will the players please come to the first floor? We have much to do and little time. Pretty soon, I will not be able to help you. OH! One last thing. I'm saddened to say that 'The Wizard' will not be able to meet with you yet. He will rejoin you soon." The sound of button clicks could be heard. "I've opened all doors on the first floor. I want all of you to go to the old missile storage room."

The three quickly went into the elevator. At the first floor, the entrance to the building was wide open. Outside, the helipad was completely open. Ally soldiers were chasing each other in a game of tag. All of them laughed like children. In the middle of the soldiers, the white soldier stood silently. He wasn't shooting anyone. He was simply staring at the three of them. The soldier immediately pointed to go back into the building. He then pulled out his grenade launcher in hint that he wouldn't let them leave.

As they turned, Meryl spoke. "The soldiers are running around like goof balls. They're affected too." They quickly headed towards the entrance to the snowfield that Snake once took down a tank in. "But why wasn't the 'white soldier' shooting any of them?"

Johnny stopped dead in his tracts. In plain sight, they could see a lone, standing figure. A woman in yellow with the face of Sniper Wolf blocked their way.


	7. Chapter 7: Viper

Chapter 7: Viper

The three stood perfectly still in fear. The woman spoke. Her voice was the voice of a man. "The three of you shall not pass." Johnny held back laughter at the shock of her voice. Immediately, a shot was fired from the woman. Meryl flew backwards in reaction.

"Meryl!" Johnny rushed to her side. A single tranquilizer dart was shot to her scalp. She was sleeping soundly. "Oh thank God!"

The woman reloaded her rifle and shot another in perfect speed. Raiden jumped. "Johnny, look out!" Raiden took the dart for Johnny and passed out soon after. Johnny rushed behind a large rock.

"Crap! I don't have a sniper rifle. What the Hell am I supposed to do?" He looked through his weapons. One item came to mind: a stun grenade. "It's worth a shot." He tossed one over the rock his back rested on. The grenade slowly rolled in front of the woman. She didn't move a muscle.

With a loud blast, a flash of white exploded across the field. Johnny turned with his gun. The woman was covering her eyes. "Ow." Her voice then changed to the voice of a little girl. "My eyes. That hurt!" After a little bit of rubbing, she removed her mask. Beneath the mask lied a tragic story. She was bald with bruises, ranging from black to blue to brown, surrounding her entire head. She rubbed her eyes clear. She could see Johnny perfectly. "What just happened?"

Johnny froze in confusion. The girl looked around and then towards Meryl and Raiden. "Oh no! Are they dead?" The girl rushed to their sleeping bodies. "Wake up! Don't die! I'm sorry, whatever I did. I didn't mean it! Don't die!" Johnny pointed a handgun to her face.

"Start making sense of things." The girl slowly looked towards Johnny's face.

"Are they okay? Did I do anything bad when I was 'him'?"

Johnny suddenly felt bad for a second. "You tranquilized them."

"Oh! Thank goodness." She looked at her hands and body. She had grenades and weaponry all over her. She then looked towards the gun still pointed at her. "Okay." She quickly tossed every weapon she head towards Johnny.

Johnny grew even more confused. "Who are you?"

"My code name is Viper Wolf."

"Viper Wolf? Is everyone's codename supposed to be a play on the names of previous people?"

Viper smiled. "That's right. It was kinda White Rabbit's idea."

Johnny nodded and then looked at Viper's face. "Why were you speaking like a man? And why do you have bruises all over your face and head?"

"Oh. I don't just have them on my face." Viper voice saddened. "I have these bruises because I'm a girl."

"Huh?"

"I wasn't born a boy. So, my daddy would beat me every day." Johnny felt a cold vibration in his soul. "My daddy told me, 'the more you act like a girl, the harder you get beat'. That's when 'he' came."

"What a horrible man!" The girl reacted in shock. "There's nothing wrong with being a woman!"

Viper looked back in confusion. "But I was supposed to be my daddy's son. Instead, I turned out to be his daughter. I wronged him."

"That isn't your fault! That shouldn't even matter! You're his daughter! He should love you no matter what gender!" The girl didn't understand. "How old are you?"

"I'm 16."

Johnny was horrified. The girl looked and acted like she was six years old. The pain built up inside him until he let it all go. He grabbed Viper and hugged her. "I'm so sorry…."

Viper's mind started to shake. Her throat grew in pain as she felt sadness. She slowly hugged back. Her voice changed to the voice of a young woman. "Why? Why couldn't you have been my father?" She pushed him away. She took several deep breaths until her voice returned to her youthful self. "What just happened? I felt….happy for a sudden."

Johnny wiped his tears and stood up. "Listen. Why are you here?"

"I'm here because 'he' wants to kill as many people as 'he' can. I'm here because 'he' made me come here. Also because Mr. Black told me I 'done did' wrong."

"What did you do?"

"I killed my father." Meryl and Raiden started to wake up. "You see. When I was a little girl, my daddy killed my mommy. We lived in a very secluded area of Alaska, and my daddy had broken out of prison." Meryl looked around and noticed Johnny listening to the little girl. Before she reacted, she noticed how calm Johnny was. She slowly walked over to listen to the story. Raiden did the same. Viper paid no mind to them and let them listen to the story.

"He'd beat me everyday and shave my head. At first, I had a hard time. I cried everyday. That was until 'he' came. 'He' was able to make me a boy. 'He' gave me a boy's voice. I was so happy, that I showed my daddy. He didn't care. He screamed 'Until you grow a dick, you're still a husky bitch'. He threw me against a wall and gave me this scar with a knife." She revealed a scar across her chest. "It's shaped like a snake. That's where I came up with Viper. White Rabbit thought it was creative."

"After he did that, a part of me took over that never had taken over. I grabbed my daddy's wood chopping axe and chopped him into little pieces. I screamed after each chop and cried from the bleeding of my chest." The other three stayed silent. Viper's voice seemed to have changed back into her adult like voice. "I rushed outside. I screamed in agony and defeat. I eventually passed out outside in the snow. That was when a wolf found me. A female wolf to be more precise. Often times, wolves are called huskies. And this specific husky was a bitch. Irony. The wolf licked my wounds clean somehow. When I woke up, the wolf was carrying me to safety. It turned out that the wolf was part of a rescue hound team in a nearby village."

"After that, 'he' didn't show up again. That was until 'Mr. Black' brought him back." Viper began to cry. "Keep Mr. Black away from me! I don't want to become 'him' again. Bad things happen when I'm 'him'." Her voice slowly decayed back to her childish self. "I don't want to be a boy. I want to be a girl!"

She covered her face in self-pity. Before anyone could respond, Raiden received a call from an unknown number. He answered. "Hello?"

"What is taking all of you so long?"

"Who is this?"

"It's me. Story Teller."

"We were interrupted by a certain 'Viper Wolf' it seems."

Story Teller turned silent. "You…you found her? Is she okay?"

"She's fine. Who is this 'he' that she talks about?"

"Viper has multiple personalities. Three to be exact. One is a childish girl that was locked away long ago. That is her standard voice now. The second is her true voice. This voice usually appears when she becomes a bit sober. The final voice is the murderous voice of a male child. She turns demonic and focuses entirely on killing."

"What do we do? Do we kill her?"

"Keep her away from Black. He has…..influence on her that causes her to change into her 'male' form. Her male form was locked away when she was a child. Black has power to bring it out of her. Keep her away from him, and she will be a good girl. I promise you."

Raiden's voice changed to a calm and cheerful voice. "You seem to care for the girl."

"I consider her my own. It was Black that forced her to be a member of the Zombie Squad." Story Teller took a deep breath. "I want you to take Viper….No. Not Viper. Not anymore. Call her 'Lili' from now on okay? Take Lili with you. The next room should be unlocked."

"The 'wizard' is waiting for us right?"

"Yes. Hurry, I won't have control of your situation for long." Before Raiden could ask what she meant, she hung up. She wouldn't respond to any callbacks.

Raiden walked towards the little girl. Johnny was hiding the fact that he was crying, and Meryl was cradling her in her arms. "Lili?" The girl looked up in shock. "That's your name?"

"….She told you my name? That means she trusts you! You three are… YOU'RE THE ONES THAT ARE GOING TO SAVE US!"

Meryl spoke in soft words. "Who needs saving? The hostages?"

Lili laughed. "No. There were never any hostages. None of the world leaders turned themselves in. That was Mr. Black spreading rumors. We need your help to save those stuck here. Me, White Rabbit, Otacon, and 'Mr. White'."

Everyone jumped. "Otacon is here?!" Lili nodded with glee.

"He's perfectly fine." Everyone felt a sudden feeling of ease. "The Zombie Squad captured him. If there is any 'hostages', he's one…… sort of."

Meryl asked one last question. "Lili. Do you know who Mr. White is?"

"I'm sorry. I don't. But White Rabbit tells me that he is a very nice man."

Meryl smiled. "Okay. Let's get going guys."

Lili jumped up with excitement. "Yay! We're going to fight crime! AWESOME!" She rushed off. Raiden rushed after her in fear of her getting hurt.

Meryl stood perfectly still. "Snake… There is no way you're alive." Johnny slowly walked up towards her.

"Meryl." Meryl looked at him in the eyes. "If we have a daughter, I swear I'll always be good to her. I'll always treasure her."

"I know." Meryl smiled. "You'll never turn into that man. You and I won't let that happen." Meryl noticed Raiden and Lili waving. "Come on. We've got a rescue mission to fulfill."

"We never asked about the confused people. Think it has to do with Mr. Black?"

"I don't know. But we'll figure it out."


	8. Chapter 8: Xander

Chapter 8: Xander

The four slowly entered the missile storage room. The missiles were all gone. The room was completely empty except for one figure: the cyborg ninja. The ninja spoke to them. "Good. You all are finally here."

Lili leaped in joy and hugged the ninja. "Xander! You're okay!" The ninja hugged her back gently.

Everyone gathered around. The ninja's chest suddenly opened up. A screen slowly appeared inside. Otacon's face appeared on it. "Long time no see."

"Otacon!" Johnny smiled. "Who is this 'Xander' guy?"

"It's a long story, but he's on our side."

"Otacon." Meryl asked the question right off the bat. "My father, Rosemary, Drebin. A lot of people…. They've gone crazy. People are acting really strange."

Otacon adjusted his glasses. "Black has a specific plan. As Onslaught told Raiden, Black's plan is to kill as many people as possible." Everyone nodded. "Remember the terrorist threat video that was displayed on televisions everywhere? Do you remember any music that played during the video?"

Johnny nodded. "Yeah. It was a weird jingle that played over and over again."

"Shit! Quickly. Get to my office and". The video was suddenly cut off!

"Otacon?" Xander slightly tapped the screen on his chest. "Otacon?"

Suddenly, the speakers in the room blasted a voice. It was not the voice of White Rabbit, but the voice of a man. "Damnit! White Rabbit, when I find you, I will kill you!" Lili started to cover her ears. Xander hugged her. "You've ruined everything." The man took a deep breath. "No matter. I'll just order White to come back in here. We've got a reunion to take place!"

Xander started injecting something into Lili's neck. "Hang on Lili. This is will protect you."

"Xander! If you can hear me, I am very disappointed in you. I brought you back to life so you could get revenge on the society that killed you. These people do not deserve empathy. They all deserve to die!"

"SHUT UP FATHER!" Xander cradled Lili in his arms. "I'll protect you, Lili. I swear. I won't let my father do anything to you." Xander held Lili close as he felt himself starting to cry in fear. "Leave us alone!"

"As for the three of you, I suggest you go find your doctor friend. He's not going to last very long."

"Otacon!" Johnny snapped. He looked towards Xander. "Hey. Buddy? Could you take care of the girl?"

"I'd die before I'd let anyone hurt her."

Johnny smiled. "Good. We've got to go."

"His office is bound to be in the same place it used to be. Come on! Get to the elevator!" Meryl knew exactly where to go. The three rushed into the elevator and left the room.

Lili felt sober all of a sudden. She spoke quietly to Xander. "Why is your father like this?"

"Ten years ago, I fell into a coma after being hit by a car. My father, a famous musician, went from doctor to doctor in attempt to find a way to save me. All of them said that I would never wake up. That is when my father found out about my mother. She turned me into what I am now. My mother had created another like me afterwards. Her creation then killed her."

"What?"

"My father wants revenge on what the world did to the two of us. But it isn't the world's fault. My coma was due to an accident. My mother was a monster who played God. The doctors knew no way to bring me back. Yet he blames society. He blames society for ruining me. He blames society for his wife's death. He blames society for the end of his music career."

"Xander. If they catch us, what will they do?"

"They won't catch us. They won't."

"How...How does he control me like that?"

"It's not him who controls you. It is my sister."


	9. Chapter 9: Dhampir

Chapter 9: Dhampir

Inside the elevator, the button for B2 had already been pressed. The three readied their weapons and prepared for battle. However, the elevator stopped on B1.

As the door opened, music filtered into the elevator. Johnny and Raiden looked at each other with a confused look on their faces.

Meryl suddenly started walking out of the elevator. "Meryl?" Johnny called out to her. "Meryl!" Johnny rushed after her to pull her back. Once he stepped out, the elevator slammed closed behind him. "Raiden!" Johnny could hear the elevator slide down. "Damnit!"

Meryl stood at the entrance of the Commander's Office.

'Oh. My head. OH IT HURTS!'

"Meryl. Are you listening?" The music grew louder as they got closer.

'C'mon Mr. Fox-Hound. The Commander is waiting.'

"Meryl!" The office door slammed open as both walked inside. Meryl turned towards Johnny.

"Johnny." Meryl's voice had an echo to it. "Johnny. Hold me. Please, I'm scared."

"Meryl. What's the matter with you." Johnny's codec suddenly rang. "Ugh, this is hardly the time!" He answered. "What?"

Colonel was on the other line. "Johnny. Did I ever give you permission to sleep with my wife?"

"What?"

"Did I say my wife? I meant my daughter."

"Well, I don't know. You let me marry her."

"Did I say my daughter? I meant my turtle."

"THIS IS HARDLY THE TIME!"

"There is no need for yelling young man. I suggest you shoot the statues around the room and go get yourself a Snapple." Johnny hung up on him after that sentence.

"Johnny." Meryl started crying. "I'm scared. Where are you? Where's Snake? I don't want to be alone."

"Meryl! I'm right here." Johnny held Meryl's hand as she cried. A shadowy figure appeared from the corner of his eye.

"Well look who the fuck face dragged in. How the fuck do you do?" A man wearing Vamp's face walked behind the office desk. "It's amazing what my little pet can do." A woman in blue appeared beside him. She hugged him. She had the face of Naomi.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I am Dhampir." The man removed his mask revealing a face of burnt skin and ash. "And I'm about to fuck the both of you up." He looked towards Ms. Blue. "Love. Go take the bitch to the torture chamber." Ms. Blue leaped and snatched Meryl before Johnny even got the chance to move. Ms. Blue heckled as she ran off with her.

"Meryl!" Dhampir jumped in Johnny's way.

"You see. Ms. Blue has the power to bring your greatest fears to life. Crazy little bitch." Dhampir moved in close to Johnny.

"And what do you do?" Johnny slowly backed away.

"After I beat you down." Dhampir flipped over Johnny and grabbed him from behind. "I'm going to do some sick shit." Johnny tried to break free. "You see. If people actually knew me, they'd know my years of expertise raping. Of course, nobody gives a fuck about the strange minds in the world because they feel they should be in prison." Dhampir slowly licked the side of Johnny's face. "It sucks. I won't be able to do anything to your little bitch. Manta Ray is going to kill the silver haired faggot. I guess all I get to have is you."

Johnny immediately slid his knife from his sheath and stabbed him. Dhampir shrieked as he rushed away. "You HONESTLY think I'm going to let you rape me. Damn freak!"

"Johnny, Johnny, Johnny. I'll make sure you die a slow and painful death." Dhampir pulled out his P60. "What do you think you're going to do?"

Johnny rolled his eyes. "I hardly have time for this. My wife is in danger." Johnny pulled out a C4 detonator.

Dhampir jumped. "What?" Dhampir looked at his body. "You son of bitch! You stuck a C4 on me! Fuck you man!"

"Watch your fucking mouth!" The C4 blew up and sent Dhampir flying across the room.

Dhampir rolled over. "Ow. Shit man. That fucking hurt!" Johnny walked up to Dhampir. "What do you want now bitch? You wanna fuck me up some more?"

Johnny fired a shot from his magnum at Dhampir's arm. "That'll be enough cursing out of you. I'm pissed off. Where's Meryl?"

Dhampir laughed. "The bitch is at the old torture chamber that Solid Snake was in once upon a time." Dhampir laughed. "You know. I never liked art. That's why I didn't want to follow White Rabbits idiotic 'name game'. Such is where I came up with Dhampir."

"Dhampir is a type of vampire. You're not far off in the 'name game' as you think. Your nothing like Vamp anyway." Dhampir laughed to himself.

"When I was a little boy, I lived with my mother. My mother was a famous porn star. She fucked every man imaginable. Rich, poor. Old, young. Tall, small. Big dick, small dick. You name it." Dhampir took a deep breath to hold back his pain. "Then, my father came back. He grabbed my mother and started raping her in front of my eyes."

"My God."

"Sick fuck, I know! I didn't get my constant cursing on my own. Oh no. My dad called my mother every word in the book. 'You fucking faggot whore. How fucking dare you fuck anyone but me! You ugly little cunt!'. It was painful to watch. My mother…she was a wonderful woman." Dhampir started to cry. "I killed my father myself. The day both my parent died, I grew a hating for human beings. No, I didn't hate them. I hated what was INSIDE. The flesh. The outer sin. Oh, it makes my body tingle."

"You only look at the outside of human beings?" Johnny sat on the desk in the office.

"I can see inside, but what I usually find is greed and hatred."

"And the burns?"

"Self made. I hated the way I looked, so I would constantly burn my face in order to deform it." Dhampir laughed. "You're different. Your nice. Usually nice people are ugly. But you. I would have enjoyed screwing you and your wife." Dhampir eyes grew wide. "No. That's wrong. You people are more than just delicious flesh. You're human beings. Shit…"

"Regretting what you did?"

"…Go to the first floor. HURRY!" Dhampir took one last breath. With the exhaling, he said his final words. "I'm sorry." He turned his head and closed his eyes.

Johnny removed the knife that was still inside Dhampir's body when he stabbed him. "Raiden. Meryl. You both better be okay!"


	10. Chapter 10: Dirk

Chapter 10: Dirk

The elevator slowly opened. Raiden rushed out. The area was completely silent. As Raiden got closer, he could hear footsteps. The White Soldier appeared in front of the door leading to Otacon's office. Raiden jumped back in hesitation. The White Soldier slowly walked towards him. No gun drawn, no weapon out. The soldier stopped a few feet in front of Raiden.

His breath was weary and bloody. "Let…me….pass. I'm….not here to fight you." The man suddenly slid an object towards Raiden's feet. It was Raiden's blade. "Your….friends….dropped this."

"Who are you?"

"A ghost." The soldier walked towards the elevator like a zombie. "Hurry. Save Otacon. He's still alive." Suddenly, the soldier began coughing uncontrollably. He turned away and removed a bit of his mask. Blood splattered on the floor from his mouth. "Ugh…" The elevator finally came to the floor. He rushed in without giving Raiden a chance to see. "Go." The elevator closed.

Raiden picked up his sword. The hallway of Grey Fox's slaughter was perfectly clean. Not a stain or cut on the wall existed. The door to the office opened. Otacon was face down on the ground with a knife in his shoulder. "Otacon!" Raiden rushed over to him. He was out cold.

"He told me not to kill him. I can't turn against the request of respectful man." Mr. Green slowly walked around the room. In both hands were two daggers. "In all honesty, I don't want to kill anyone."

"Then why are you on their side?"

"I was promised a duel. A duel with the great scout that assisted the famous Solid Snake. Honestly, I would have preferred a duel with Solid Snake himself, but I cannot be so lucky.

Raiden drew his blade. "Do you have a name?"

"My codename is supposed to be Psycho Manta Ray. However, call me by my former assassin name. Dirk." The man pulled off his green outfit, revealing a black outfit with a jacket covered in knives.

"A little obsessed with knives? Reminds me of a certain 'immortal' that I killed."

"You must mean Vamp. No. I'm nothing like him. I don't kill. I enjoy the sport of battle." Dirk bent over and bowed. "It truly is a pleasure to meet you." Dirk toss two daggers. Both barely missed and stabbed the wall behind Raiden.

Raiden smiled in triumph. Dirk laughed. "Take a second look kid." A string was attached to each dagger. Dirk pulled the string to return the daggers to him. Dirk spun the string around him, causing the daggers to fly across the room with the string connected.

Raiden pulled out his sword and cut the strings of both daggers. Dirk smiled as he pulled four daggers in each hand. He spun around and laughed while dancing with the strings. The knives spun around him. Raiden rushed past Dirk and cut every string. The daggers flew away from them both.

Dirk stopped. "I never took off my mask, did I?" He still had the face of Psycho Mantis without his mask. Dirk removed his mask. His face was that of a rich, middle age bachelor. "No more strings. It's getting foolish." Dirk opened his palms. Two massive machetes launched out from his sleeves. "Raiden. Would you have issue using two different types of blades?"

"Depends on the blade."

Dirk slid one of his machetes to Raiden. Raiden took it. Dirk unleashed another machete into his hand. Dirk had two, Raiden had one and his katana. "That's more like it."

Blades slammed together as the two fought. Each countering each other's footwork perfectly. There was only one time they stopped. It was right next to Otacon's sleeping body. Dirk cried out. "Stop!" Dirk looked toward the ground. Otacon had pissed himself in his sleep. Dirk was standing in a puddle of urine. "That's disgusting. Oh well." The two went back to fighting.

Raiden, in one large slash, swiped both blades from Dirk's hands. Dirk fell to the floor, then slowly looked up towards Raiden. "Nicely done, mate. I can't believe you outdid me like that. Unfortunately, I don't want to die right now. On the other hand, you most likely want me dead. So I'll make a deal with you." Dirk slowly got up and removed all his weaponry. "You take your little scientist friend. You pretend that you killed me."

"Why? Why are you doing this?"

"I have way too many things I want in life."

"Like what? To kill more people?"

Dirk laughed. "Sonny. I haven't killed anyone. Ever. Like I said, I fight for sport."

"What about the millions who died from the bombs that your team planted?"

"That was Ms. Orange's doing. She has a firm grip on the outer world." Dirk sounded a bit regretful. "I should have done something about it, but in doing so, I would have ruined my cover."

"Your cover?"

Dirk smiled. "I have no intention of helping them. I don't give a damn if they fail or succeed. All I care about is achieving my dreams. One of them was to fight you. Not to win or lose, but to fight."

Raiden felt odd. "I…guess I'm honored?"

"Sir Dirk Fortesque III. British agent and assassin."

"You're a British agent? And you let them get away with the bombings?"

"If the Zombie Squad found out I was an agent, they would have killed me! I joined this place to keep find out what they were doing. I found out the day of the bombing." Dirk walked over to Otacon and removed the knife from Otacon's shoulder. "I'll bandage him up while I speak to you."

"They kept you uninformed?"

"No. She did."

"Ms. Orange?"

"No. The White Rabbit. She was my informant. I was kind of a 'newbie' to the crew. So they kept me under the White Rabbit's wing. Luckily for both of us, she turned out to be a defect too. She made a deal with me. If I helped her escape, I would get the chance to face you. I agreed."

"What are her intentions?"

"To help the White Soldier."

"Who is he?"

Dirk finished wrapping the last of Otacon's bandages. "If I tell you, will you let me go?"

"Yes."

"Remember when I first said that it was my dream to face the scout that assisted Solid Snake? Remember how I mentioned it was a pity that I couldn't fight Snake himself?"

"Yes. Because he's dead."

"I can't fight him. Not because he's dead, mate. He's alive. There's just not very much to fight."

"What?"

Dirk stood up and slowly walked towards a nearby air vent. "Consider that…" Dirk reached into his pocket and tossed him a wad of cash. "and THAT…my payment. Adios." Dirk rushed up the air vent and left.

"Snake is alive? Impossible."


	11. Chapter 11: Solid Snake?

Chapter 10: Solid Snake?

Johnny rushed out of the Commander's Office. "Why does he want me to go to the first floor? Crap. Maybe something is wrong with Xander and Lili!" He rushed to the door. "Meryl. Hang on."

He rushed to the elevator. The door opened. The White Soldier was stand inside. "No way." Johnny backed up. The White Soldier only stared. The elevator door started to close. It opened up once again when the soldier pressed the "Open" button.

"What are you waiting for?"

"What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to kill me?"

"Get inside." Johnny didn't move. "I said get inside!" The soldier grabbed Johnny and threw him into the elevator. The soldier pressed for the first floor. "Where's Meryl?"

"Meryl? Didn't your little lackeys tell you? They took her!"

"Who took her?"

"The…chick with the Naomi mask."

"Damnit." The man let go of Johnny. He took several deep breaths to get his energy to speed up. Johnny took this instant to take off his mask. Underneath showed the face of a young Solid Snake. The man stood perfectly still. "Satisfied?"

"Snake? Is it really you?"

"Does it look like me?" Johnny suddenly noticed that Snake's mouth wasn't moving.

"Snake? That's a mask too isn't it?" Johnny slowly reached to take it off. Snake grabbed his hand.

"Now is not the time. I have to go save Meryl and you have to go save Lili and Xander." The elevator opened and Snake walked out in a zombie like matter. He peered over to Xander and Lili. They were still there. "Black is coming for them. Go to the storage location of Metal Gear Rex."

"Why?"

"Just go!" Snake felt his stomach cramping. "We don't have a lot of time." Snake quickly rushed outside.

Xander and Lili looked towards Johnny. "What's going on?" Xander seemed confused. "Where are they others?"

"No time. Raiden will meet us later. Snake is saving Meryl. Let's go!"


	12. Chapter 12: Death

Chapter 12: Death

Meryl slowly awakened. The room echoed with the sound of a piano. Meryl was tied to the same torture device that nearly killed Snake. However, the room was remodeled. The room was painted completely black. Everything was painted black. Not an inch of any color was visible. Even the keys of the piano being played were painted black. The player of the piano was a girl. Without even turning, she knew Meryl was awake.

"The mask I wear. The girl that owned that face. She died due to a cancer that inside her body."

Meryl softly spoke. "Naomi Hunter."

"Naomi. That was it. Odd name." The girl continued to play.

Meryl struggled to get out. "What do you want? Why do you have my on this thing?"

The girl continued playing. "Do you know the name of what I'm playing?"

Meryl stuttered. "A piano?"

"No. Not the instrument. The symphony."

Meryl listened. The sound of each softly pressed key echoed. "I'm sorry. I'm not really good at this."

The girl still continued to play. "Raindrops. Frederic Chopin." The girl gently stopped playing. "To be able to listen….to play….to feel music like this, it's truly such a gift." The girl suddenly slammed the keys of the piano. "Why would anyone try to take away that gift?"

The girl slammed the keys several more times before stopping for a breath of air.

"I want to kill them." The girl took several breaths. "Because they want to kill me!" She clutched her fists together. "I don't understand. We all exist! Why do we have to take that gift away from each other?

"If you have such issues with death, why do fight alongside the Zombie Squad?"

The girl slowly turned to Meryl. Her face covered up in bandages. "I kill….because they want to kill me." She slowly walked up to Meryl. "Don't let them kill me. I don't want to die. Death…." She cradled her head. "It's all so horrifying. For such wonderful things in life to magically play on and on, all to come to a crashing black end!" She started to quiver. "That's why I painted this room black. So I don't feel so bad when the final symphony plays." She started to laugh and heckle. "They all seem so happy because of my music."

"Wait." Meryl jumped. "Do you mean to tell me that the reason everyone is acting strange is your music?"

"Yep. Well, I'm half the reason." She started to giggle. "You see. In a few hours, everyone in the world will turn on their radio." She rushed to her piano and danced around it. "Then, my daddy will play my recorded symphony to the entire world!" She sat down and started playing a song. "I call it, 'Rebirth of Adam and Eve'."

"Then what will happen?"

"The minute everyone hears this music, the little virus we inserted in them will trigger them to perform their final act. Murder." She happily continued to play the piano. "Everyone in the world will kill themselves and those around them. Everyone will die. EVERYONE!" She laughed. "Human existence will be wiped clean! There will be less people trying to kill me!" She laughed louder. "And I won't have to live in fear all the time, because they want to kill me. But they won't exist so they can't kill me. Oh, I'm such a genius."

Meryl felt a shroud of fear over her mind. This fear jolted with another slamming of piano keys. "But…YOU!" The girl quickly got up. "YOU! Why aren't you affected? You should be pouncing around like a unicorn in a fairy garden! In fact, you should want to kill." She cradled her arms. "In fact, I'm sure you want to kill me. Don't you! DON'T YOU! I knew it." She rushed over and picked up a knife, which oddly enough was painted black. "Die you stupid bitch!" Before she stabbed Meryl, she froze dead in front of her. A dart was sticking out of her neck.

"What?" The girl slowly fell over and passed out on the floor. Meryl turned towards the door entrance. "Snake?" Snake quickly rushed inside and took got her off the machine.

"This old machine hasn't been working for ages. Ugh. It gives me bad memories."

"Snake! I knew it was you! How are you alive? How…" She immediately hugged him. Snake grunted in pain and threw her off. "Snake?"

Snake gripped his shoulder tenderly. "We don't have time. Let's go."

Meryl noticed his mouth wasn't moving. "Snake…take off the mask."

"Meryl. We don't have time."

"Snake. What did they do to you?"

"Damnit Meryl! This isn't the time for this!"

"Snake. Are you still aging?"

Snake grabbed Meryl by the hair and started dragging her out the door. Meryl shoved him off. "Meryl… Please….They are going to take control of me again. I don't want you to be here when that happens. I'll end up killing you."

"Snake. Let me see your face." Before Snake could do anything, the speakers began to blast sound.

"Snake." It was the voice of Black. "It is time!" A soft melody began playing across the hallways.

"Damn! Meryl, run!"

"Snake. What's going on?" Meryl noticed Snake taking a little bit of his mask off and vomiting blood. What little she saw under his mask revealed that his jaw had little skin. "Snake!" Meryl covered her mouth. Snake rushed up to her and shoved her towards the elevator.

"GET OUT! Go to where Metal Gear Rex was once stored. GO!" Meryl immediately rushed into the elevator. The doors closed. Meryl fell to the floor and started crying.

"Zombie Squad…..did they make Snake a zombie?" Meryl began laughing to herself in fear. "These people are insane. AND WHY THE HELL AM I NOT AFFECTED BY THIS MIND CONTROL THING?" Her codec suddenly blared out. "WHAT?"

Rose appeared on the other line. "Meryl. Am I ugly?"

"Rose. You're being controlled somehow. Snap out of it."

"I mean. I think my hair is too short."

"Rose. Wake up!"

"I mean….I don't want to look like a dike like you."

"Snap out of….wait. What did you say?"

"I mean. I don't have man arms thankfully."

Meryl froze in horror. "FUCK YOU!" Meryl immediately hung up and rushed out of the elevator. She immediately called Johnny.

"Meryl? MERYL! Oh thank God!"

"Johnny."

"Meryl. Are you crying?"

"Snake…he's not human anymore. They did something to him."

"Meryl. Lili separated from us. We can't find her anywhere!"


	13. Chapter 13: White Rabbit

Chapter 13: White Rabbit

Raiden was still inside of Octacon's office waiting for him to wake up. At that sudden instant, someone walked inside of room.

"You can't carry him?" Story Teller sat on a nearby chair. "We're in a rush you know." Raiden immediately pointed his gun towards her. Story Teller laughed. "Are you 'for serious'?"

"YES! I am VERY 'for serious'!"

"What do you want?" Story Teller adjusted her body.

"Explain things!"

Story Teller took a deep breath. "You're going to have to emphasize, because there's a lot of things to explain."

"Then explain everything."

"Ms. Orange. None of you have met her, correct?" Raiden nodded. "Good. Okay. She is most of the cause of this."

"Who is she?"

"You've heard of Dr. Clark, correct?"

"I can't say that I have."

"Member of the Patriots. Turned Grey Fox into a monster." Story Teller started to light a cigarette. "Anyway. What most people don't know is that Dr. Clark had an assistant."

"Is that supposed to be a big deal?"

"Yes. It is. Dr. Clark was a medical genius that was corrupted. She started on disturbing projects capable of bring the dying to a painful life. Did Snake ever tell you about a certain 'Grey Fox'?"

"Frank Jaeger?"

"That's the one! Anyway. Dr. Jennifer Tanger, Ms. Orange, was her assistant. She learned everything she could from Dr. Clark. So you could pretty much assume Ms. Orange's persona?"

"Yes. Dark, cruel, and unforgiving. Move on with this."

"You see. Diuqil was part of Otacon's team during the creation of Metal Gear Rex."

"Diuqil?"

"Liquid backwards. She changed her last name when she fell in love with Liquid Snake."

"She fell in love?"

"More or less. Liquid never knew she existed. Then again, he didn't know any of us existed."

"You were part of the team too?"

"Yep. Dr. Jessica White is my real name. During the time Snake infiltrated Shadow Moses, most of the team had been executed. The two of us were afraid. We tried to escape. Running on foot. That's when the wolves found us. Sniper Wolf knew we had escaped, and she helped us. She wanted us to live. So, the two of us hid inside of a location somewhat far off from Shadow Moses. Wolves would transfer rations to us. Soon after, Wolf died. That's when I found out about Solid Snake."

"I was amazed. Shocked by his bravery and skill. It was funny. I became amazed by Solid, and she amazed by Liquid. Afterwards, we escaped on our own. The two of us were friends during the time. We had no idea what had happened, but we made it out."

"We eventually met Black. Black introduced us to his 'family'. Majority of the crew was already with him. He adopted all of them. Lili, Onslaught, and Dhampir. All of them were already feared mass murderers. However, no one knew who they were. They were never caught."

"What about Xander?"

"Xander is Black's son. Xander has a twin sister, Xian."

"And the mother?"

Story Teller nodded her head in disappointment. "Dead. However, Diuqil is considered the 'mother' of the crew."

"Huh?"

"I'm Auntie White. We'll all one big miserable family. Onslaught hated me. Dhampir wanted to rape me. Xian wanted to kill me. Lili became my friend. And Xander was in a coma for the longest time."

"What about Dirk?"

"Black wanted to make an 'Uncle' type for the crew. Let's just say Black isn't the smartest bulb in the box."

"So then Xander's body was created by Diuqil?"

"Yep. A car hit Xander when he was a little boy. He lost most of his limbs and fell into a deep coma. Diuqil rebuilt him and made him what he is today. Eventually, Xander found out about his father's intentions. As you can tell, he's quite resistant."

"Okay. I can't take this anymore. Why are you acting so calm?"

"Hmm?"

"You're acting like this is a family argument. Thousands have died! Everyone in the world is dancing around like they have a llama on their roof! Snake is somehow alive! How can you be so calm about this?"

"Because I've been in this Hell for the past ten years! Do you honestly think I haven't lost a corner of my mind?"

Raiden turned silent.

"Why else do you think I've been calling you a scout, Meryl a princess, Johnny a prince, and so on? I'M BORED! DO YOU HAVE ISSUES WITH THIS?"

"Yes. Yes I do."

"Well too bad! I am trying to make things go my way, and you're making it difficult!"

Raiden decided to change the subject. "Why is everyone acting the way they are?"

Story Teller calmed herself down. "Diuqil discovered a mutant parasite. A robotic parasite capable of infesting the human brain and causes them to have certain spasm upon hearing certain music."

"What? That makes no sense!"

"It doesn't make sense, but it's been accomplished. Once injected, the host will be triggered to perform certain actions depending on the pattern of sound that was played."

"So how is everyone affected?"

"Like a virus, those parasites reproduce inside the body and escape to contaminate others. We simply captured a few people, injected them, and sent them out into the world. We're pretty surprised how well it spread across the globe."

"All of us were infected and never knew. But how are some of us not affected?"

"Simple. There's a vaccine. Sort of."

"What do you mean 'sort of'? And how did we get the vaccine?"

"I injected all of you with it."

"When?"

"During Snake's funeral. None of you noticed me or the injection. It was a piece of cake."

"You….you were at the funeral?"

"I needed some of you to stay normal."

"Why didn't you inject my son? Why didn't you inject my wife?"

"I only had five vaccines. I needed the three of you to save us. Sunny, I knew, would have been a valuable aid to you guys. And Mei Ling……..I need her to record something that will happen soon."

"When you said the vaccine 'sort of' worked, what did you mean?"

"The vaccine prevents the spreading of the virus through air. It prevents infection through standard spreading. However, if someone were to inject the virus into you, you would be infected once again."

"Then I would act strangely?"

"You'd have to hear the melody we played during our threat to act the way everyone else is acting. With a simple melody, it creates a script for a person to act. You see, Xian is infected worse than anyone imaginable. She's practically a walking human version of those parasites."

"So, she's just like everyone who is infected."

"No. She IS a parasite in a way. She can understand the parasite's listening patterns, which allows her to form the music that is needed to perform certain acts. She became this way through much infestation and radiation. With her knowledge, we were able to create the script."

"What is this script you keep talking about?"

"The time between the video threat we made and your arrival at Shadow Moses….it was all planned."

"What?"

The Story Teller slowly stood up. "Remember when you said goodbye to Rose?" She put her cigarette down. _"You have to do what you have to do."_ She made her voice sound a bit like Rose. _"Just promise me you'll come back alive. Don't do anything insane like last time. You have a different body now. A somewhat human body in comparison."_

Those words were the exact words said by Rose when Raiden last spoke to her. Raiden felt outraged. "How much of what's happened has been a lie?"

"The soldiers 'happily' sacrificing themselves to help you. Campbell having as much information as he did. The claim that specific world leaders had surrendered themselves to us. The claim that countries were at war with themselves. The claim that their were traps inside of Shadow Moses killing any soldiers that got in. The claim that the White Soldier was incapable of dying." The White Rabbit took a deep breath. "In fact, the bombings never happened. We haven't killed anyone. Except for the soldiers that 'tried' to enter this place, but they were following the script too"

Raiden was horrified.

"Black and Diuqil were actually the news reporters that reported the bombings. The music that played during the newscast made everyone believe that the bombings did happen. And most importantly: Solid Snake missing. All of it was a lie created by us."


	14. Chapter 14: Infection

Chapter 14: Infection

"Ow!" Otacon shot up in shock. He massaged his neck. "Did one of you two inject me with anything?"

Raiden rushed towards Otacon. "Otacon! You're alright!" Otacon didn't seem relieved though. He seemed scared.

"Did one of you two inject me with anything?"

Raiden looked towards Story Teller. She scratched her head. "I didn't do anything. Dirk doesn't know a damn thing about the virus."

"Could he have been injected with vi NAAARG!" Raiden yelped as a needle floated in thin air into his neck. After the injection, the needle floated away and vanished. Footsteps could be heard throughout the room. "Someone's in here!"

The automatic door suddenly opened and closed. Nobody could be seen running through. Story Teller jumped out. "Oh crap! It's starting!"

"What's starting?"

Story Teller took a deep breath. "There are two master minds behind this operation. Myself and Diuqil."

"What about Mr. Black?"

"He thinks he is. He isn't." Story Teller took a deep breath. "I'm going to sum up both of our plans. Her plan: play a song across the world that will make every human being the world want to kill each other and themselves."

"And your plan?"

"To stop it."

"So which plan is taking place as we speak?"

"Mine." Story Teller smiled. "However, we need to get our asses straight to old Rex storage room."

Otacon stood up. "Wait. Where's Snake!"

"No time! Run!" The three started rushing towards the elevator. As soon as the door closed, Raiden called Meryl.

"Meryl. Are you and Johnny okay?"

"We're fine, Raiden. We got separated. I'm in the old warhead storage."

"We're heading there now!"

"Really? I'll wait. Do you have Hal with you?"

"Yeah. He's fine."

"Well that's go OW!" Meryl grunted in pain.

"What's the matter?"

"I…felt like somebody had just injected me with something!"

"Can you see who did it?"

"No. Nobody is in here but me." Meryl slowly looked towards the elevator the second she heard a noise. "I think you guys are coming out now."

The three rushed down stairs and rejoined with Meryl. "We have to go meet up with Johnny!"

Otacon slowly looked around as if he had been sleeping forever. He looked in the direction of the old Tank Hangar. The silhouette of a man stood in the midst of the snow. "….Snake?"

Raiden turned. "It is Snake!"

Meryl and Story Teller turned at the same time.

Meryl: "Crap!"

Story Teller: "Shit!"

Meryl grabbed Raiden by the arm and rushed him away. Story Teller did the same with Otacon. Raiden tried to resist. "What's going on? Why are we running?" Raiden got a second glance of Snake. He had the gun of the Boss, the Patriot.

"He's been programmed to kill us! We've gotta run!" Story Teller was a good distance from Meryl and Raiden. Snake suddenly aimed.

"Why the Hell didn't you say so!?" Raiden ran past Meryl. The four ran screaming their heads off as bullets sprayed across the room. None of them were hit, but they were very much afraid.

Raiden caught up with Story Teller. "Don't you have a vaccine?"

Story Teller gave Raiden a stare of confusion. "Oh yeah. That's a good idea! Does anyone want to volunteer getting next to him to inject him so he can kill that person afterwards? Or better yet. How about we toss it to him and ask him nicely? He's been programmed to kill, you numbskull!"

"So what do we do?" All of them were in the middle of the massive snowfield. Wolves howled as they ran away in fear.

"We'll seal him outside. We cannot let him inside! He'll be troublesome."

"So we're abandoning him all together?"

"We're going to save him! We just need to prevent massive onslaught!"

Otacon suddenly tripped. Meryl grabbed his arm and shouldered him to the entrance. The door behind them closed.

"I'm locking it." The light of the door suddenly flashed red. The door would not open. Loud gunshots could be heard reflection on the other side of the door. "He's going to try to get in. Don't worry. We'll be ready for him when he finally does."

Meryl screamed at the top of her lungs. The ringing of her codec scared her to death. She answered. "Johnny! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Meryl. Xander and I… Somebody just injected us with something and we don't know how or who did it. Nobody is in here but us."

Raiden could hear Johhny. "Damn." Raiden was having a hard time talking due to heavy breathing. "Unless there is more than one person doing it, that person sure ran from Meryl to Johnny in a flash."

Story Teller avoided eye contact. Raiden could tell she was hiding something.

Meryl hung up. "Come on. We better hurry."

Ms. Orange and Mr. Black stood in the middle of the Rex storage room. Ms. Orange removed her mask. Behind was a gorgeous blonde visage. Mr. Black took off his. He had the face of a bald, scarred man. The two looked at each other. "Diuqil. What are you planning?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Both immediately pulled out a gun and aimed it at each other. Both focused on each other. In a sudden instant, Xander appeared behind Black with his blade to Black's throat. Behind Xander was Meryl and Johnny, aiming their guns at Black.

In a sudden flash, Raiden appeared behind Diuqil with his blade to her neck. Otacon was right behind Raiden with a revolver aimed towards Diuqil. Story Teller toyed with her thumbs. "Um….I don't…I don't have a gun…." Raiden suddenly snatched a gun from his body and kicked it over to Story Teller. She immediately picked it up and aimed towards Diuqil. "There we go!"


	15. Chapter 15: Party Time

Chapter 15: Party Time

Nobody spoke a word. Meryl decided to go first. "Why are you two trying to kill each other?"

Black smiled and laughed. "Cause this bitch injected me with something."

Diuqil's jaw dropped. "I thought you injected me with something."

"Why the Hell would I inject you with anything?"

"I don't know, Black…." Diuqil froze for a second. "Who in here has not been injected within the last thirty minutes?" Nobody in the room moved, except for Story Teller who slowly raised her hand.

Black got a gaze. "Did you inject us?"

Raiden spoke. "I had her in my sight the second I was injected. She didn't do it."

"Did you see the person who did it?"

"No. The person was invisible or something."

"Camo. Great." Black nodded. "Has anyone seen my daughter?"

Meryl spoke up. "Snake tranquilized her. She should still be sleeping."

Everyone went silent. Diuqil spoke up. "Then I guess Lili injected all of us."

Xander screamed. "Lili wouldn't do that!"

Suddenly, the room echoed with Lili's voice from the speakers kept around the room. "Testing. One, two. One, two. Can everybody hear me?"

Everyone looked at each other with a confused look in their eyes.

"Good. Okay. WR. I just press the play button right?" Everyone looked towards Story Teller.

"Lili. Shut up and press it!" Before anyone got the chance to attack her, music filtered the entire room. Everyone froze. The MK IV suddenly appeared. It had been lost during the chase Snake gave, but it finally caught up. The screen opened. Sunny nearly gasped.

"I know this song."

Sunny remembered all the times she sang the rhythm whenever she made eggs.

'112358132134558914423337761098715979584.'

Sunny knew this song very well. She suddenly noticed Campbell. "Uncle Campbell?" He stopped moving. He wasn't dead or sleeping. Just incapable of moving. The same was happening to everyone in the Rex storage room, except for Story Teller.

Story Teller started to laugh. "That was close!" None of them could move, but they could hear and comprehend everything that was going on. They all stood perfectly still. Story Teller quickly rushed upstairs to the control room. As soon as she entered, Lili gave her a high five.

"Hello. Before those of you in MY group start to worry…No. I am not going to play that stupid song that will cause everyone to kill each other." She suddenly pulled out a nail clipper. "Why, you ask? I honestly don't give two craps what happens to the people outside this place. However, Snake wouldn't want them to die." Lili sat in the corner and took a nap.

"You see. Lili was the one who injected all of you. She's under my control for now." Story Teller brushed off her nails. "And Sunny."

Sunny jumped the second she heard her voice called.

"Don't use that machine to shock any of them. With the virus controlling them, it could cause them to snap into a seizure and possibly kill them." Sunny backed away. "Don't worry. I don't intend to kill all of them. I just want to have fun. Like….this!" She began to play the piano inside the control room. A grim lullaby echoed throughout the room.

All seven (Meryl, Johnny, Otacon, Raiden, Black, and Diuqil) stood together. Otacon walked in front of the entire group and stared at them. He suddenly, in one motion, jumped to his left.

"It's just a jump to the left!" Otacon sang out.

Everyone in the group proceeded to jump to the left as loud music blared. All sang together perfectly.

'And then a shake to the right!"

The music stopped. Otacon put his hands on his hips as he sang, "With your hands on your hips!"

The music continued.

'You bring your knees in tight,

But it's the pelvic thrust

That really drives you insane!

Let's do the Timewarp again!

Let's do the Timewarp again!'

All of them stopped sing as the music faded away. Story Teller laughed out loud. "Oh. This oughta to be fun." Story Teller sat down. "And now…" She slammed the piano to perform a dramatic echo. "Someone will die!"

She suddenly played an eerie song, a song with familiarity to it. Suddenly, everyone in the room rushed to the far walls of the building. Black snatched a foldable chair that was randomly placed in the room. He opened it and sat in the middle of the room. Next to him was an ice bucket with a glass and a bottle of wine. He proceeded to open the wine bottle and pour some into the glass.

As he slowly drank, Johnny rushed up towards him. In a dramatic voice, Johnny spoke. "Die monster. You don't belong in this world!"

Black spoke in an odd voice. "It was not by my hand that I am once again given flesh. I was called here by HUMANS who wish to pay ME…TRIBUTE!"

Johnny spoke out in confusion. "Tribute? You steal men's souls and make them your slaves!"

"Perhaps the same could be said of all religions."

"Your words are as empty as your soul! Mankind ill needs a savior such as you!"

Black laughed out. "What is a man!?" He then tossed his glass onto the floor. "A miserable little pile of secrets! But enough talk! Have at you!" The room suddenly flashed and turned into a massive throne room.

Everyone was suddenly dressed oddly. Meryl and Raiden looked at each other with confusion but could not move. Otacon knew exactly what was being mimicked here but could speak.

Johnny and Black fought through out the room. Black was using a pile of crumbled up red, construction paper. He threw paper balls constantly at Johnny. Johnny was using a belt as a whip.

Story Teller was laughing uncontrollably. "This is the highlight of my life!" She laughed harder as Black threw the paper balls in completely seriousness. "I could watch this for hours. Oh well." Story Teller played a short melody on the piano. Immediately, Johnny pulled out a gun and aimed it at Black.

"No!" Black started to scream. "It cannot be!" Black screamed loudly until it was silenced by a gunshot.

Story Teller kicked her shoes off. "This is great. Black is dead. Now I just have to deal with Diuqil." Story Teller reached over and pressed a button. The storage room flashed and the room returned back to the way it looked. "I can make this room turn into anything I want. Do you want to know what this room really looks like?" The room flashed again. The walls were perfectly white. "The substance of these walls. The substance of every wall inside of this base. They are all made using OctoCamo. That's why we need Otacon. We needed to know how to make the walls be able to look different with a simple snap of the fingers."

"When we first came here, this place was practically destroyed. With a little work, we were able to clean it up. So much for Ocelot's plan to bomb this place." Story Teller suddenly felt like sobbing. "I want to revive this place. This is the sanctuary of our hero!" She rubbed her eyes. "Someday, this place will fall to the bottom of the ocean. That is why….That is why I am controlling all of you! I had a plan and all of you are making it EXTREMELY difficult. So, let's move on to the next order of business. Raiden. Diuqil. Come center stage!"

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard nearby. "Ah. The guests are here."


	16. Chapter 16: Ceremony

Chapter 16: The Ceremony

"We'd better make this fast." Story Teller played another song. The song felt depressing and beautiful all at the same time. Suddenly, the room flashed into a dark and eerie hospital room.

Diuqil rushed to a far wall and turned towards Raiden. Raiden slowly walked towards her. Diuqil spoke in a scared voice. "Harry?"

Raiden gave a concern look. "Lisa? What's the matter with you?"

"I get it now. Why I'm still alive even though everyone else is dead." She took a short pause. "I'm not the only one who's still walking around. I'm the same as them. I just hadn't noticed it before."

Raiden took a small step back. "Lisa?"

"Stay by me, Harry! Please. I'm so scared. Help me." She stared walking towards Raiden. "Save me from them. Please… Harry…" She walked close to him as if she wanted a hug. He immediately pushed her away. She rushed into the wall. Story Teller began playing a different song.

In a sudden burst, Raiden lifted his gun and shot once into Diuqil's head. Diuqil jumped, but stood still. The virus was keeping her alive. She turned towards Raiden. A string of blood dripped from her bullet wound. It curved across her eye as she blinked, and then ran down her face. She slowly walked towards Raiden with her face covered in blood. She whispered in his ear.

"She lied to you. I was never an assistant to Dr. Clark… She was." Story Teller smiled. She knew what Diuqil was saying. "I discovered the virus. Yes. But, she was the one who made Black's daughter the way she is. She also did the thing to herself. She knows how to use music to control people just like Black's daughter." Diuqil coughed. "She made Snake and Xander the way they are. She planned this whole thing."

Raiden held onto Diuqil. "Diuqil?"

"No. My name is Jennifer." She coughed harder.

"You wanted to kill everyone?"

"I did…Because…I hated my life."

"Why?"

"Liquid. Why? Why didn't he love me?" Raiden felt a small amount of pity for her. "Do not mourn for me. I deserve death. I agreed for this fate. It was all a part of her plan." With one last cough, the virus let go of her body. She fell onto the floor. "Liquid…" She turned her head over and died.

Raiden felt his own body. He was free from the virus. "You lying bitch!" He turned towards the control room. "You lied about everything!"

Story Teller smiled. "I did. I had control over everyone in the squad but those two. They both were underlings of mine. Black and Jennifer. Both of them hated each other. So when both were injected, it was no surprise they suspected each other."

Xander spoke out. "You mean. My father had nothing to do with the virus."

Story Teller laughed. "Your father had one request. To keep you and your sister alive. And they both are. Your sister was of great help in teaching me the different songs I needed. So, she gets to live. Hooray for her!"

"What about Lili?"

Story Teller smiled. "Lili…" She started to laugh. "…is my daughter. Her father never killed me. I was in Shadow Moses the whole time."

"And the bruises she has now! They weren't my father!?"

"Those were done by me. Because Lili couldn't believe how harsh her mother was being. She tried to kill me, so I took control of her. Gave her those bruises and burns to remind her of her 'secret friend'."

"Your horrible!"

"Don't worry. She'll get out of here alive along with you, Xander."

Meryl felt herself capable of moving. "Why are you letting us move all of a sudden? What are you planning?"

Suddenly, the footsteps of the 'guests' grew loud. Rose suddenly walked into the room.

Raiden stared in confusion. "Rose?" Loud shouting echoed the hall she came from. Drebin walked in. He was dragging Mei Ling into the room. Campbell soon entered with Sunny at hand. One final guest walked in. Nastasha Romanenko walked into the room. All of them were acting almost like zombies with the exception of Mei Ling and Sunny.

"The guests have finally arrived." Suddenly, a loud explosion could be heard not far from where they stood. "And our man of honor is soon to come. Our ceremony will begin very shortly."


	17. Chapter 17: Zombie Snake

Chapter 17: Zombie Snake

Sunny and Mei Ling were then injected with the virus.

Story Teller played another song. With the playing of that song, everyone lost control of his or her body again. Everyone marched to the center of the room and lined up in two groups facing each other.

"And now. The man of the hour arrives!" Story Teller began playing 'The Funeral March'. Meryl, able to move her eyes, noticed that Rose was crying.

Snake suddenly entered. He could barely walk. He walked in between the two motionless groups as if he were a zombie. Once he passed everyone, the music stopped.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Today is a very grim day. The day we have to finally say good-bye to our dear friend, Solid Snake. It is with heavy heart that we must do away with him."

Everyone tried to move, but to no avail.

"Let us give our final statements before the ceremony truly begins." Story Teller played a short tune. The tune caused Campbell to suddenly walked towards Snake.

Campbell felt himself return to normal. He was given the chance to speak. Mei Ling suddenly snatched a nearby notebook and started writing down what was taking place.

"Snake." Campbell took a deep breath. "I don't know why this is happening, but if this is truly your death…then…. I want to thank you. Thank you for saving all of us. For giving my daughter the chance to have the wedding of her dreams. For giving all of us a second chance. For ending what Big Boss started." Campbell tilted his head down. "I will… Be joining you eventually, I'm sure." Campbell slowly walked back to his spot.

Sunny slowly walked forward. She was already crying. "Snake. I-Is that really you?" The entity slowly nodded his head in validation. "S-Snake." She softly hugged Snake. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for screaming at you whenever you smoked in the Nomad. I'm sorry I didn't make my eggs right when you were around." Snake suddenly pushed Sunny off.

His head turned side to side. With immense pain, he slowly spoke. "Never blame yourself for my pain." He took a deep breath. "You should not be sorry."

Sunny wiped her eyes and slowly walked back to her spot.

Story Teller let out a grunt. "UGH! Make this go faster! 'You-with-the-face'. Rose? Go forward with your weird ass husband."

Raiden and Rose walked forward. Rose was already in tears. She spoke first. "Whatever happens. We are your friends. We won't let anything horrible happen to you. You know that." Snake didn't respond. "We'll get you out of this, I swear it."

"Rose?" Rose looked towards Raiden. "Where's John?" Rose's eyes grew wide.

Story Teller interrupted. "Your little tike is up here with me. I won't hurt him! Once this is over, you are free to go."

Raiden looked towards the control room. "I will kill you. I swear it." He looked back towards Snake. "Snake. We're going to get you out of this." The two walked back to their spots.

Story Teller continued. "Okay. 'Dude with the monkey' and 'Lady with the cigarette'. Hurry this up."

Drebin and Nastasha quickly walked towards Snake. Little Gray jumped Snake and held onto Snake in depression. Drebin offered Nastasha to go first, but she turned it down. Drebin put his hand on Snake's shoulder. "Snake." Drebin stopped for a minute and tried to think of something to say. "Snake. We will take this bitch down." Drebin smiled. "You are the best business partner I ever had." He slowly walked away.

Nastasha walked towards Snake. "Snake. Long time no see, eh? I've heard of what you did after Shadow Moses. You truly are a hero. A legend." She smiled. "I don't know why I was brought here, but I'm glad. No matter what happens now, I'm glad I got the chance to say good-bye to you. Snake… You saved us all." Nastasha slowly turned and walked back.

Story Teller looked into the crowd. She rolled her eyes after realizing who was next. "Otacon…" He was already crying like a mad man. "Is this going to take longer than an hour? Because if so, I'm going to the bathroom."

Otacon took a deep breath. "I'm not going to cry…"

Story Teller laughed. "Yeah, and my ass can grow mushrooms by farting."

Otacon looked towards the control room. "You told me we were saving Snake!"

"I say a lot of things."

"How could you be so cruel?"

"What? Are you going to say 'I loved you'? You honestly need to stop making bad relationship choices!" Story Teller deeply smoked her a cigarette and breathed out. "Hurry it up."

Otacon rushed towards Snake. He didn't have any more tears. "Snake. You are my best friend…and I did this to you… I made you the way you are now…" Snake grunted. "I was afraid… Afraid to be alone… No… This isn't my fault." He started screaming. "You ruined everything! Snake had a chance to live the rest of his life in peace! You took that away from him!"

Story Teller was silent. Otacon felt himself being controlled. He was forced back to his spot.

"After that asshole, we are now concluding our good-bye statements. I…" Story Teller suddenly noticed Mei Ling. She was on the floor, writing diligently. Her notebook on the floor with her face parallel to it. Tears dripped off her face and on to the notebook. Story Teller rolled her eyes. "Would the 'Journal' like to speak with Snake as well?"

Mei Ling nodded her head up and down with intense emotion. She quickly got up and rushed towards Snake. She hugged him. "Snake. You don't deserve this. You gave us peace, and this demon is ignoring it for what she believes is 'right'! Snake. Oh God." She mourned and then slowly walked towards her notebook.

Meryl and Johnny stood next to each other. Neither one was crying. Meryl spoke out loud. "So what? Neither of us get to speak with him?"

The piano in the control room blared loudly. Everyone in the room except for Meryl and Johnny moved to the far end of the room. Snake, Meryl, and Johnny stood in the center.

Story Teller played the piano with great emotion. "So sad. So brief. Oh, it is only right to perform this ceremony with you two."

Johnny called out to Story Teller. "What are planning to do with us?"

Story Teller played a swift tune. Immediately, Snake pulled out a handgun and shot Johnny right in the forehead.


	18. Chapter 18: Of Heroes and Heroines

Chapter 18: Of Heroes and Heroines

It was a tranquilizer dart. Johnny fell backwards and passed out. Meryl rushed towards him in fear. "Why?"

Story Teller smiled. "I want to make things fair." Suddenly, Lili rushed out of the control room with multiple, large posters in her hand. Xander called out to her, but he couldn't move.

Meryl slowly walked towards Snake. He didn't move. She reached towards his neck and pulled on his mask. She slowly removed it. He had no skin or hair. He looked like a zombie.

Snake opened his mouth. An electronic speaker emitted his voice through his mouth. "Meryl. The virus makes the host immortal. The person will never die from age, but he will 'age' to the point of decay."

Meryl covered her mouth in horror.

"Meryl. Kill me…"

Meryl nodded her head. "No. I can't…I can't do this."

Story Teller howled into the microphone. "You have no choice!" The room flashed brightly. The room looked exactly as it did during the Shadow Moses incident. Only this time, the illusion of Metal Gear Rex was there. Snake, Meryl, and Lili were on top of it.

Lili passed by the two of them with a sign saying 'Round 1'.

Story Teller played piano playing a very familiar song. Suddenly, Snake put his mask back on. "Meryl. She is forcing me to fight you. You have to fight back!"

"No. I won't." Meryl felt pain in her throat.

**'I'm making myself a promise. I'm not going to cry.'**

Snake suddenly felt himself lose control. His Octo-Camo changed into an outfit similar to that of the Shadow Moses incident. His mask changed into the face of his youth. Snake laughed. "It's show time."

Snake rushed towards Meryl with a punch, but she jumped out of the way. Snake reacted to the dodge and punched her in the abdomen. Meryl jumped back in pain. Snake rushed in for another strike. She ducked and punched him in the groin. He didn't react.

Story Teller got on the microphone. "I would like to make note that Snake not longer has anything there. It has decayed."

Meryl jumped back. Snake seemed as strong as he had in the past, but he was still a walking corpse. She rushed towards him and punch him in the jaw. A loud crack could be heard. Snake fell back. His mask was warped due to his broken jaw. He readjusted it and went back into the fight.

Meryl jumped towards Snake and punched him 'off' Metal Gear Rex. Of course, the illusion made it look like he was going to fall, but he was still on the ground. Snake fell to his knees and hands. Snake suddenly changed into what Snake looked like during the Big Shell Incident.

Lili passed by with a sign saying 'Round 2'. She slightly tripped. A syringe from her pocket fell out and rolled towards Raiden. Raiden tried his greatest to resist the virus and grab the needle. Xander's hand suddenly landed on it. Xander injected himself and rushed towards Lili. She had several more syringes. All of them were vaccines. Xander vaccinated Lili. She slowly passed out on the floor.

Xander rushed towards Raiden and injected him. "I'll save everyone else and get them out of here. You take care WR."

Raiden rushed off.

Snake was slowly looked up. The entire room changed into the look of the battle Raiden had with Solidus. Snake smiled. "Kept you waiting, huh?" He pulled out the Patriot and aimed right at Meryl.

Multiple shots were fired. Before any could impact Meryl, Raiden jumped in front of her and deflected them with his blade. Raiden pushed Meryl to the floor and jumped over Snake. With one slash, he cut Snake's back. Snake slowly fell over.

Raiden kicked the Patriot towards Meryl. "Meryl. I have to deal with Story Teller. Can you take care of Snake?" Meryl nodded. "Good." Raiden rushed to the control room.

Meryl pointed the fabled gun at Snake. Snake rolled around in pain. He suddenly faced the floor as he cough mildly. He opened his mask to release the blood pouring from his mouth, but something else fell out when he removed his mask. Snake felt his face and laughed. "My left eye... Ironic…" Snake put the mask back on. As he looked up, the mask changed. It resembled 'Old Snake'. He slowly walked towards Meryl.

The entire room shifted into a new look. A wide field of white flowers. Snake slowly walked towards Meryl in pain. "Snake. Please stop." Meryl held the gun tightly. Her hands were shaking.

**'You've got rookie eyes.'**

"Snake…" He was closing in on her.

**'Don't just stand there!'**

"Snake!" He suddenly pulled out a knife.

**'SHOOT!'**

In one loud bang, Snake fell to the floor.

**'I'm not going to cry.'**

* * *

"Snake!" Meryl screamed out in agony.

From the distance, Raiden was breaking open the door to the control room. Inside, John was sleeping quietly.

Story Teller started to cry. "It's all so beautiful…" She reached towards the floor and pulled out a revolver. "Snake. I did this….for you."

Raiden jumped the moment he heard a gunshot inside. He slammed the door one more time. The door busted open. Story Teller shot herself in the head. Raiden rushed over to John. He was fine.

Meryl stood over the beaten Solid Snake.

**'It's okay to cry.'**

Meryl fell to her knees and looked up towards the ceiling. The room's illusion showed a bright, yellow sky. As she smiled, tears rolled down her cheeks. She rested right next to Snake, on the floor. She injected him with the vaccine. "Snake…"

Snake slowly opened his eyes. "Meryl?"

"Snake. Everything's going to be okay. You're free from the virus."

"Meryl…"


	19. Chapter 19: Goodbye

Chapter 19: Goodbye

Raiden cradled his sleeping son. "Thank God." He then looked towards the panel next to the piano. It had a count down on it. It had twenty minutes left. "A…self-destruct countdown?….Oh crap!" Raiden rushed out of the control room. "Everyone. This place is going to blow in twenty minutes!"

Nobody reacted. They were all surrounding Snake. Xander waited beside the exit with Lili sleeping in his arms.

The room still had the flowery illusion. Meryl gently crying. "Snake…"

"Meryl. Kill me."

"No…I can't…I won't…" Snake suddenly turned over and spit out a ton of blood.

"Meryl…my entire body…has no skin left…every muscle and organ sting…the pain is unbearable…"

"Snake." Meryl covered her mouth in fear.

"Meryl. I loved you. I really did…but I didn't want to be burden on you. I had things to do… People to save… I didn't want you to suffer. But now I see, you still are suffering." Snake slowly reached towards her. "I'm sorry."

"No." Meryl interrupted him. "Don't be. For me to be angry with you for not paying attention to me is selfish. I wanted you, but I knew you were needed for other things. It just hurt for me to admit it." Johnny suddenly woke up. "Johnny!"

Snake started to laugh. "Johnny… How have the two of you been?"

Johnny rubbed his head. "Snake?"

"Any more…..problems…Johnny?"

Johnny softly laughed. "….Fewer than ever."

Snake slowly gave thumbs up. "Good." Snake looked towards Otacon. "Otacon. I know you claim that you aren't going to cry anymore, but it doesn't matter."

"What?"

"Cry. Cry all you want. But get things done… Wallowing in self-pity does nothing. Believe me…I know." Snake looked around and noticed all the people crying around him. "It's too bad…I wasn't able to live as I wanted to. I have such a great family…" Snake coughed loudly. He quickly took off the mask. He was bleeding greatly. "A shot to the head…please Meryl."

Meryl aimed the gun and shook in depression. "Snake…We all love you."

Snake felt his mouth trying to smile. "I know…"

Meryl couldn't keep her aim steady. Johnny came to her side and supported her aim. Everyone stopped crying. There was nothing but silence.

…….

…….

…….

…….

…….

…….

…….

…….

…….

…….

…….

…….

**'There's only room for one Boss… and one Snake…'**

…….

…….

…….

…….

…….

…….

…….

…….

…….

…….

…….

…….

The gunshot echoed across the entire room.


	20. Chapter 20: Shadow Moses

Chapter 20: Shadow Moses

Everyone fell in horror and depression. Otacon fell to the floor, crying in complete horror. Raiden cried softly with Rose and a sleeping Jack cradled in his arms. Everyone cried in suffering of such a great loss. All expect two.

Meryl and Johnny still had the gun aimed for Snake's head. Both of them trembled. Slowly, the gun fell from their grip as the cried. Both cradled each other in tears. The room echoed will sob.

Toward the exit of the room stood Xander, watching in silence with Lili in his arms. "Why did she do all of this?"

* * *

The entire group slowly walked outside. Sunny looked out towards the sky. It was completely cloudy. Not an inch of the sun could be seen. She looked towards the crew. "The Nomad isn't far from here. Come on."

All of them walked in the freezing snow. Meryl cradled herself as memories of Shadow Moses flashed by.

**'During all this pain and shame, there was one thing I was sure of.'**

Johnny held her hand as they continued.

**'A single hope that I held onto.'**

The Nomad slowly came into view.

**'And that hope kept me alive.'**

One by one, the group entered the Nomad. Johnny offered Meryl to go in first, but she asked him to go in. He walked inside. She looked off into the distance. The silhouette of Shadow Moses imprinted itself on her eyes.

**'Snake. I wanted to see you again.'**

* * *

Sunny suddenly screamed. Everyone rushed to her to find a disturbing figure standing in the midst of the Nomad. It slowly looked towards the others. "I've cheated death…for too long." She slowly raised a needle in the air, and then injected it into her neck. The needle fell to her hands. She didn't move a muscle. Xander slowly walked towards the figure, but Meryl got in front of him.

"Xian?" Meryl offered her hand, but Xian backed away. Xander slowly stepped closer.

"Sister. What was in that needle?"

"Daddy…" Xian cradled herself in fear. "He never told you, did he?" Xian moved her hair to reveal one of her eyes to show that she could give eye contact. "Xander. The virus kept me alive… I have cancer…The virus halted its progress…I just never noticed it before."

"What do you mean…noticed it?"

"White Rabbit left me note. She explained everything." The deformed girl gave a small smile. "I'm not afraid to die Xander. I'm not afraid!"

Xander got closer. "We can get you to a hospital…"

"NO!" Xian covered her eyes. "To feel the judgment…of a thousand mortal eyes is enough to burn my soul. I don't want to face their judgment of what I did. If I am to face judgment, I'd rather it be that of God…or Satan…whoever awaits me." She slowly stood up. She pointed to two items. A briefcase and a camera.

"The briefcase has an abundance of vaccine samples. Find a way to mass-produce it. Save everyone." She started walking towards the group. "And the camera…it contains a video that you might want to see." She slowly started walking out of the Nomad.

Xander grabbed her hand. She stopped and looked towards him. "Xander. Let go." He slowly did. "I'm going to sit outside and wait. The place still has five minutes to blow up. I want to see it. I want to see the destruction of a land where legends were made." She walked outside and sat in a fetal position in the snow. The Nomad closed and eventually flew away.

* * *

Xian stared at the frozen building. She waited patiently. Eventually, fire began raging across the territory. "Dad…are those fireworks?" The explosions grew louder and louder. She gently smiled fire danced with snow. She closed her eyes and felt a loss of control in her body.

"Shadow Moses." She smiled to herself. "Such a neat name." She slowly slipped into darkness. "A dark savior…a gloomy saint….a holy omen….Solid Snake….Story Teller told me so much about you. How you risked your life for the safety of others. How you fought for the ones you loved. In reality, you never knew you were doing it. You were doing what your gut was telling you to do." She coughed suddenly.

"It's pretty ironic. The amount of people who feel that people are born natural sinners… You were born to obey…yet you defied when sent to the wrong path." She felt a tinge of joy in her soul. "Maybe you're an angel…If you are…please tell God I'm sorry… I'm sorry for doing what my father told me to do. I'm sorry for killing so many. I was afraid…afraid of God's judgment…afraid of your judgment Snake. Now I realize…if God made us, the judgment of humanity is almost the equivalent of His judgment."

She felt her hand stop moving. "I'm scared…to die… But…with humanity's beauty…I can only imagine that…" The entire field stood as still as her body. "…the best is yet to come…"


	21. Epilogue

The camera contained one video. It was played on the screen of the Nomad for all to watch.

The Story Teller's face appeared on the screen. "Hello. If you are watching this, then the ceremony is over. As you stand right now and I rest in rubble, I can't imagine what horror is floating through your mind." She rubbed her eyes and continued with her speech. "You have every right to hate me. But…I've told everyone's story…but my own. You see… The entire group…the Zombie Squad…with the exception of Jennifer. They were my patients. I am Dr. Jessica White, psychiatrist. If you were to ever mention Jennifer to Otacon, he'd know who you were talking about. But myself? I lied… I was never part of the Metal Gear Rex project…but I was in Shadow Moses. I did escape with Jennifer. And yes, I was Dr. Clark's assistant once upon a time."

She looked around as if she were trying to avoid the camera. "Why was I in Shadow Moses? I was the psychiatrist for Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf, Vulcan Raven, and Decoy Octopus. All of them were my patients. The horror I felt from all four of them…it was unbearable. I wanted to cradle Mantis as if he were my own child. I wanted to free Wolf from all the pain she was in. I wanted Raven to leave to world of battle. I wanted Octopus to have an identity of his own…"

"But I couldn't control that. They all wanted to die willingly… And so they did…." She remained silent for a short while. "When I got back to Lili, she was already a mess. She was amongst other..'raving looney toons' in an asylum. The 'looney toons' turned out to be the members of this squad. I brought them all under my attention and felt their pain. The only person I didn't give attention to…was Lili."

"Xian was afraid of death, so she'd kill to avoid death. Ocelot was afraid of people, so he'd kill others. Dhampir was afraid of sexual attractions, so he'd rape and kill those he was attracted to so he could never think of them again. Black feared the death much like his daughter as well." She gently laughed. "Of course, Jennifer had her issues with the fact that Liquid never loved her. Ha! What an idiot!" She smiled to herself. The smile slowly turned into a frown. "The truth is…I'm afraid of love."

* * *

_Otacon slowly nodded to Campbell, who was baby-sitting Sunny and John. The adults were going out for a double date. Raiden and Rose. Otacon and Mei Ling. Raiden offered his arm to Rose happily. They both crossed arms and smiled to each other as they continued on. Otacon stuttered and offered his arm to Mei Ling. Mei Ling laughed and took his arm._

"Isn't that sad? To be afraid to love! To be afraid to love your own daughter. To be afraid to love any of your friends or family. I couldn't do it. Do you know why? Pain. I feared the pain that came with love. If my daughter were to have died, I don't know what I would have done. Kill myself most likely. Because of this, I can't love you Lili. I will never be able to show you love." She wiped her eyes. "However, I will say one thing. What I am about to say is the most painful thing in the world for me, because of the pain I feel for feeling this emotion…and the pain I feel for ruining your childhood." She took several breaths of air. "Lili…I love you." She covered her face and screamed in tears.

She rubbed her face in fury and stared into the camera as if it were an actual person. "Lili. Have Raiden help you. Raiden… Send Lili to her real father. Dirk…is Lili's real father… He joined the Zombie Squad…to protect his daughter…and to make sure that I wouldn't kill her. Lili…forgive me for your step-fathers actions. I needed a man to take care of you while I was in Shadow Moses. I didn't want you to come with me… but if I had known what that bastard was going to do to you, I would have taken you with me. Lili… Dirk loves you… I swear it."

* * *

_The agent formerly known as Dirk slowly opened his front door. There stood Lili in complete fear. She tilted her head in confusion. The agent smiled and slowly walked towards his daughter. He hugged her, and in slow progression, she hugged back. She let go and turned. Behind her was Xander. The agent shook hands with the boy. Both were invited in for tea._

* * *

"I know that I'm going to die… I don't want to be remembered as a saint… But know this… What I did to Snake… I completely regret it… I regret everything I did, but I don't want to be forgiven. I want to punished…" She slowly stared off into the distance.

"That man… Solid Snake. How can such a human being exist?" She laughed to herself. "Better yet, how can such a sin of man be such a blessing?" She slowly smiled. "All the death he went through. I asked him… I asked him if he ever cried during his years of being alive. He said, 'I'm sure I did…but tears are just an emotion…emotion shouldn't hold back what needs to be done'. The moment he said that…I understood his motives. I understood how he lived."

"Every person he killed. Every friend and ally that died in his arms. Every wound he received. Every memory that storms in his mind. It doesn't pass him like wind against a rock. He impacts him like a meteor. He isn't emotionless…he cries…he laughs…he smiles… He LIVES. And that's what I don't understand. How can a human being go through such torment…and still live…? It's completely horrifying to me… But… he told me… 'I have things to do, and if emotion slows me down, I have no choice but to hold it in'."

"I'm a horrible person for doing this to him…" She looked towards the camera. "All my life…I wanted to be in control… Even with a virus that turns every human being into a puppet…I'm still not in control… I can't stop people from dying. I can't stop pain. I can't stop regret. And in the process of trying to control all of these horrors, I'm experiencing them. I feel horrible for what I've done and I hurt for it…..I want to die." She looked away in defeat. "I wish I had learned this lesson earlier… I wouldn't have done all this…"

* * *

_Nastasha typed rapidly on the computer. In front of her were the notes of Mei Ling. Story Teller made her write every moment that took place in the incident. According to the world, the incident never happened. No one knows. Not even the government. Only those who WERE in the incident._

_Because of this, Nastasha agreed to put the story into a book. This would be the first of Nastasha's books to be placed under 'fiction'._

* * *

"I wonder what awaits the world after I'm gone. In all honesty, I don't want to be remembered… I just want to end the mistakes I've made. I've lived for too long."

She took a deep breath. "Xander. You're a wonderful boy. I know your father….and myself… tormented you all these years. Please…take care of Lili for me. I always hoped the two of you would get married. Lili will be happy as long as she knows she is loved. Her 'male' form was created by me. I created it with the virus. Now that the virus is no longer in her system, she should be somewhat normal. She will still have scars, but you can mend them. I may fear love, but I know its healing power."

She slowly nodded. "I wish the ruined souls of the world would know of this knowledge."

* * *

_Drebin packed up his vehicle and slowly walked towards a grave. On it, it said 'Noble Legend: Solid Snake'. He pulled out a handkerchief, and with a flick of the wrist, it turned into a white rose. He tossed the rose onto the grave. Drebin rushed back to his vehicle. The door slowly closed._

* * *

"And Johnny… I never got the real chance to see you again." She rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry…" She started to giggle. "I'm sure you don't remember the therapy sessions very well." She smiled. "Johnny… You were never meant to be amongst the Genome soldiers in Shadow Moses…but I'm glad you were. You often cried to me of your family tree. Each member was known for failure…and bladder problems of course. You told me… you wanted to break that cycle. You wanted to marry…name your first son something besides Johnny. You wanted to break the chain from your underdog status…"

"I remember when you came to me when Meryl was put in her cell in Shadow Moses. You asked me, 'Is that girl single?'. I couldn't help but laugh. 'How am I supposed to know?'. Hopefully you remember me now… The last time we met…I found you unconscious in the torture room. Snake had escaped. You cried to me… You were afraid you were going to die in that place… You were afraid you'd never achieve your dreams. Do you remember what I told you?"

**'Those who seek their dreams follow the brightest star in their eye.'**

"And you did. I'm very proud of you… I have no idea why you thought Meryl would be apart of the Big Shell incident… I'm sure you though she was going to be with Snake… And now you're married to her…" She tilted her head down. "Johnny… there's something I have to tell you…" She took a deep breath. "I gave you so much attention for one reason…"

"Lili is your niece… Yes. That does mean I'm your sister. Dad just never told you about me. I was the first born…I was abandoned soon after." She smiled. "Don't feel sorry for me…I prefer things this way." She started crying. "You deserve such a wonderful life… Don't let anyone bring you down. You fought for the spot you are in Johnny… you deserve it…" She took a deep breath. "Johnny… I love you…"

* * *

Johnny cradled Meryl in his arms. Both cried softly for both of their pain and struggle. Johnny opened his eyes and looked towards the clock. Lili and Xander were visiting in an hour. Johnny slowly stood up and started getting dressed.

* * *

"And Meryl……Snake asked me…..that if I were to torment him into doing this, you had to be the one to take him out…" She took a deep breath. "You…are a far stronger woman than I will ever be…"

* * *

-

-

-

-

-

Meryl walked into the bathroom while Johnny was changing clothes. Meryl closed the door behind her and reached into the bathroom cabinet. She pulled out an unused pregnancy test.

After performing the test, we waited.

**'I'm sorry…for dragging you into all this.'**

**'This time…I've got your back.'**

She looked towards the result.

**'Johnny…Marry me…'**

**'Its been my dream since I was a little girl…'**

**'I want to be a bride….'**

**'Take me home…'**

Positive.

* * *

**'For humanity, the best is yet to come.'**


	22. Author Note

For my first fan-fiction on FF

For my first fan-fiction on , I'm pretty proud about the fact that I ACTUALLY finished. I was worried the story was going to end up unfinished.

One of the major factors that helped me in finishing was the amount of viewers I got. So, thank you guys so much. I'm really happy I got this chance to improve on my writing and promote my fandom for the MGS series.

I gotta say, I got pretty emotional during a lot of parts. The ENTIRE time during the epilogue, I was typing with 'The best is yet to come' playing on my computer.

Spoilers

Killing Snake wasn't very fun. I felt horrible doing it. If this fanfic were to become a game (riiiiight, that'll happen), I would definitely have a "Press R1" signal to trigger the player killing Snake. Sorta like how the Boss died (which Snake's death was a clear reference to).

Thank you for reading. I don't know when I'll write my next story. There's a good chance it will be on Soul Calibur (considering Soul Calibur 4 coming out), but don't expect it being a drama. It will most likely be a comedy (unless I also want to write a drama). Hopefully, I won't have as many typos next time.


End file.
